| Guar Gum - An Introduction |
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| Guar Gum is derived from the ground endosperm of the guar plant, Cyanmopsis Tetragonolobus belonging to the family Leguminosae. The guar plant is mainly grown in India and Pakistan from the month of July to December. Availability and pricing are depending very much on the quality of the monsoon during this period, major Guar is grown in India (Rajasthan, Harayana, Punjab & Gujarat) |
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| Physical Characteristics of Guar Gum |
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| Guar Gum is a white to yellowish white powder. It is nearly odorless. Fine finished Guar Gum Powder is available in different viscosities and different granulometries depending on the desired viscosity development and application. |
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| Guar Gum is a natural high molecular weight hydrocolloidal polysaccharide composed of galactan and mannan units combined through glycosidic linkages, which may be described chemically as galactomannan. |
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| Dissolved in cold or hot water, guar gum forms a slime of high viscosity. Guar's viscosity is a function of temperature, time, and concentration. |
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| Application of Guar Gum |
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Bakery -
One of the major applications for guar gum powder is the production of bread. Even small quantities of guar gum powder added to the dough increase the yield, give greater resiliency, improve texture and give longer shelf life. |
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Dairy -
In this field guar gum is used as an excellent binder of water and a stabilizer. It is used in the production of ice-creams, sherbets, cheese, liquid milk products, and others. |
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Meat -
Guar can be used as lubricant and excellent binder for various meat products. It allows storing with less loss of weight and can decrease the filling time for cans. |
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Dressing and Sauces
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Guar can be used as an excellent thickener to impove the stability and appearance of salad dressings, barbecue sauces, relishes, ketchups and others. It is quite compatible with highly acidic emulsions. |
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Beverages -
Guar can be used as stabilizer for chocolate drinks, fruit nectars, and juices. |
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Food Applications -
Dry soups, sweet dessert, canned fish in sauce, frozen food items and others. |
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Pharmaceutical and Cosmetics -
Guar Gum can be used as a thickener for various cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In compressed tablets Guar Gum can be used as a binder and distintegrator. |
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| Several studies have found significant decrease in cholesterol levels after administration of guar gum in human consumption |
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Textile printing |
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Mining Industries |
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Water treatment |
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Oil-drilling |
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Tobacco Industry |
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Paper Industries |
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Fish Feed Industries |
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Explosives and others |
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| Chemical Characteristics of Guar Gum |
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| Guar Gum, like locust bean gum, is a polysaccharide consisting of a straight chain of D--mannopyranose units joined by B *( 1-4) Linkages with a side branching unit of a single D-galactopyranose unit joined to every other mannose unit by a *(1-6) linkages. Locust bean gum has a single galactose side branch every fourth mannose unit. The molecular weight of guar is 220,000 +/-1 0%. |
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| The greater side-branching of guar accounts for its cold water hydration as well as its greater hydrogen-bonding activity. An average quality guar gum contains about 80% Galactomannan, 12% Water, 5% Protein, 2% acid insoluble residue or crude fiber, 0.7% Ash, 0.7% Fat, a trace of heavy metals, (arsenic and lead). |
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| Standards |
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| Minimum standards for good quality Guar Gum Powder have been defined in the United States FCC and by European Union Specification, E-412 as under: |
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| Moisture |
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max. 12 % |
| Ash (total) |
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max. 1.5 % |
| Acid insoluble residue |
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max. 3 % |
| Galactomannan |
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min 82 % |
| Protein |
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max. 5 % |
| Arsenic |
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max. 3 ppm |
| Lead |
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max. 5 ppm |
| Zinc |
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max. 20 ppm |
| Copper and Zinc |
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max. 50 ppm |
| Cadmium |
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max 1 ppm |
| Heavy metals |
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max 20 ppm |
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| Viscosity |
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| The most important characteristic of Guar is its ability to be dispersed in water and hydrate or swell rapidly and almost completely in cold water to form viscous colloidal dispersions or sols. The viscosity attained is dependent on time, Temperature, concentration, pH, rate of agitation, and particle size of the powdered gum is used. The lower the temperature, the lower the rate at which viscosity increases, and the lower the final viscosity. Above 80c the final viscosity is slightly reduced. The finer guar powder swells more rapidly than coarse powdered gum. |
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| Different forms of Guar Seed |
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