What is Guar Gum?

Guar gum is a natural food thickener and a traditionally cultivated plant in  the northern regions of India and Pakistan. Guar in India is drought resistant and is very hardy. Guar gum is extracted from the legumes-Guar. The molecular weight of guar gum is the largest one in all natural water soluble polymers. Guar gum in fact is not just a thickening agent, but a binder and emulsifiers as well. Guar gum has the natural ability to bind with water molecules, preventing them from forming the unwanted crystals.

White to yellowish brown powder. It disperses in hot or cold water to form the viscous liquid and is the highest viscosity of natural rubber. 1% aqueous solution viscosity of about 4-5Pa • s. It transformed into gels when add a small amount of sodium tetraborate. The viscosity changes with the change of PH value.

Application of guar gum in food industry:

1 It used as stability agent in ice cream.

2 It prevent noodles from bonding, water retention and increasing flexibility, and it maintains excellent quality and extend shelf life.

3 It is water retention and thickening stabilizer when applied to beverages such as peanuts milk, orange juice, fruit tea.

4 It can increase the volume in meat products such as sausages, lunch meat, meat balls.

5 It can reduce spills, control consistency and prevention of fat transfer in baby food and canned food.

As a food additive, the safety of guar gum has been recognized by the World Health Organization. Guar gum contains several nutrients, and common microorganisms can grow and reproduce in it. If you want to use the configured guar gum solution for a period of time, you must make a good anti-corrosion measures. The molecular structure of guar gum changes more, its resistance to microbial invasion is greater. Tests showed that in terms of resistance to microbial invasion the derivative of guar gum is far more than the guar gum. Practice also shows that the derivative of guar gum can keep the solution longer stability and good quality. As a result, the derivative of guar gum can inhibit the growth of bacteria, and these bacteria can destroy the stability of guar gum solution and reduce the quality of solution.

Because of the low price and the stable source, guar gum has been widely used in food industry. In recent years, the dispersion, viscosity and solution transparency of guar gum has been rapidly risen by the chemical modification. The study and development of the derivative of guar gum makes it becomes an important composition in the production of guar gum. Source: http://okfoodadd.blogspot.hk/2015/09/edible-gelatin-and-industrial-gelatin.html.