Guar Gum

Guar Gum’s uses are mainly based on its water-binding, thickening, viscosity controlling and stabilizing abilities.

Dairy: Guar Gum is used as a thickener, as a binder of free water or viscosity modifier in the dairy industry. It is used in ice cream stabilizers, especially in high temperature, short-time processes where conditions call for 80°C for 20-30 seconds. Guar Gum binds the free water without disturbing the viscosity characteristics of the mix. It also imparts body, texture and heat-shock resistance to the ice cream

Bakery: Guar Gum, when added to dough while kneading, increases the yield, gives greater resiliency, and a drier appearance. The resulting baked products have a better and softer texture and a longer shelf-life. Cake and biscuits, made from dough containing Guar Gum, can be easily removed from the moulds and easily sliced without crumbling. Guar Gum, in combination with starch, prevents dehydration, shrinking and cracking of frozen-pie fillings.

Meat: Guar Gum is used as a binder and lubricant in the manufacture of a number of meat based products such as sausage and stuffed meat products.

Beverages: Guar Gum is useful in thickening various fruit drinks and sugarless dietetic beverages

Salad Dressings, Pickles, Relishes & Barbecue Sauces: Guar Gum is useful in maintaining stability and appearance.

Instant Noodles: Guar Gum is used to retard oil absorption while frying and thereby reducing production costs.

Pet Food: Guar Gum is used as a thickening and suspending agent and as a process aid in almost all types of wet canned pet food. It is effective at very low concentration and improves particle distribution and uniform filling, without imparting significant influence of its own on the visual outcome of the finished product

Mining: Guar Gum depresses the gangue minerals in the froth flotation process for concentrating ores. It is also used as a settling agent to concentrate ores and tailings. In filtration operations it flocculates small particles of clay and suspended slimes and facilitates their removal.

Water treatment: The U.S. Public Health Service has permitted the use of Guar Gum, as a coagulant aid, together with alum, ferric sulphate and lime, for potable water treatment. Guar increases the size of the floc initially formed by the coagulant, thereby increasing the rate of settling of solid impurities, reduction of solids carry over to the filters and increasing periods between backwashes. In industrial waters, Guar Gum flocculates clays, carbonates, hydroxides, and silica, when used alone or in conjunction with inorganic coagulants.

Explosives: Guar Gum is used as a gelling agent in water-gel explosives that are widely used in the commercial market.

Tobacco: In the tobacco industry, Guar Gum is used as a binder for fragmented tobacco fines to produce reconstituted tobacco sheets. These flexible sheets, with tensile strength and thickness of leaf tobacco, are blended with leaf tobacco and retain the taste, flavour, and aroma of an all-leaf product. Sheets are formed by passing a moist mixture of Guar Gum, humectant, and tobacco fines between closely spaced steel rollers revolving at different peripheral speeds.

Paper: In the paper making industry, Guar Gum adsorbs on hydrated cellulosic surfaces. It is a wet-end additive that promotes dry strength, improves sheet formation, and makes manufacturing easier and faster.

Pharmaceuticals: Guar Gum is used as a binding and disintegrating agent in compressed tablets.

Textiles and Carpets: Guar Gum derivatives thicken the dye baths that are used in the printing and dyeing of fibres, fabrics and carpets. The gums control the rheological characteristics of the dye formulations and permit complex multiple dye patters that are sharp, bright and controlled as to penetration. They are used in roller and screen printing, as well as in finishing agents.

Hydroseeding and Erosion Control: Guar Gum is used as a 100% natural bio-degradable tackifier.