uar gum, also called guaran, is a galactomannan. It is primarily the ground endosperm of guar beans. The guar seeds are dehusked, milled and screened to obtain the guar gum. It is typically produced as a free flowing, pale, off-white colored, coarse to fine ground powder.

Guar Gum Properties:

Chemical composition:

Chemically, guar gum is a polysaccharide composed of the sugars galactose and mannose. The backbone is a linear chain of ß 1,4-linked mannose residues to which galactose residues are 1,6-linked at every second mannose, forming short side branches.

Solubility and viscosity:

Guar gum is more soluble than locust bean gum and is a better emulsifier as it has more galactose branch points. Unlike locust bean gum, it is not self-gelling. However, either borax or calcium can cross-link guar gum, causing it to gel. In water it is nonionic and hydrocolloidal. It is not affected by ionic strength or pH, but will degrade at pH extremes at temperature (e.g. pH 3 at 50°C). replica watches It remains stable in solution over pH range 5-7. Strong acids cause hydrolysis and loss of viscosity, and alkali’s in strong concentration also tend to reduce viscosity. It is insoluble in most hydrocarbon solvents. replica rolex milgauss watches

Guar gum shows high low-shear viscosity but is strongly shear-thinning. It is very thyrotrophic above a concentration 1%, but below 0.3% the thixotropy is slight. It has much greater low-shear viscosity than that of locust bean gum, and also generally greater than that of other hydrocolloids. Guar gum shows viscosity synergy with xanthan gum. Guar gum and micellar casein mixtures can be slightly thyrotrophic if a biphase system forms.

Thickening:

Guar gum is economical because it has almost 8 times the water-thickening potency of cornstarch – only a very small quantity is needed for producing sufficient viscosity. Thus it can be used in various multi-phase formulations: as an emulsifier because it helps to prevent oil droplets from coalescing, and/or as a stabilizer because it helps to prevent solid particles from settling.

Industrial applications of Guar Gum