GUAR GUM

Guar Gum is also used in the following industries:
a) Insecticides & Pesticides
b) Detergents & Soaps
c) Paint Industry
d) Electrodes & Brazing Fluxes
e) Plywood
f) Leather Industry
g) Foundry
h) Tobacco Processing
i) Pencils Crayons
j) Adhesives

Explosives (as Water Blocking Agent in Nitro-glycerine, Slurry Explosives, Ammonium Nitrate & Dynamite Explosives):
By mixing Guar Gum in Ammonium Nitrate, Nitro-glycerine & Oil Explosives, even in wet conditions explosive property is maintained. This is due to the better swelling, water blocking and gelling properties of Guar Gum.

Oil Well Drilling (as Viscosifier, Bore-well Retainer and Fracturing Gum):
Guar Gum when used in oil well drilling muds, gives a better colloid thereby reducing water losses. It regulates the viscosity of mud solution, stabilises and regulates the flow properties of the drilling muds.

Paper Industry:
Guar Gum is used in paper manufacture as a better additive. It gives denser surface to the paper used for printing. Guar Gum imparts improved erasive and writing properties, better bonding strength and increased hardness. Due to improved adhesion, it gives better breaking, mullen and folding strengths.

Textile Industry (Sizing and Thickener for Printing on Cotton, Silk, Wool and Synthetics):
Guar Gum gives excellent film forming and thickening properties when used for textile sizing, finishing and printing. It reduces breakage of yarns while sizing and gives better efficiency in loom shed. Guar Gum is physiologically inert and is also resistant to greases, oils and organic solvents.

Cosmetics:
Guar Gum is soluble in cold and hot water and this solution is not attacked by Bacteria. Guar Gum Protective colloid forming capacity results in emulsion stabilisation. It is also a good thickener and suspending agent in Cosmetics.

It keeps the Bread smooth, pliable and fresh for longer time and imparts milky white bleached appearance to Bread.

Bakery Industry:
It is used in the Bakery Industry, in Bread, Pastry, Cakes and Cookies. On dry mixing prior to dough making in Bread, it helps to retain moisture and hence the weight of Bread.

It increases the mechanical strength of tablets during pressing. It readily disperses in water. It is used in jellies and ointments as a thickener. It imparts good viscosity and gives better foam stability in shampoos. It is compatible with glycerol and is used in tooth-pastes.

In squashes, sauces and sherbets, it functions as a suspending agent and as a stabiliser. It has got a low calorific food value, and it is an excellent bulk laxative. It is used as a suspending agent for Calamine and Barium Sulphate.

Food, Pharmaceutical & Dialectic Industries:
Guar Gum in pure form when used in the ice creams acts as a superior stabiliser and gives the right texture by preventing the formation of coarse ice crystals. The present trend is to use agro-based Guar Gum only for Ice cream, without any Additives or Preservatives, in place of Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC), which is a chemical derivative of cellulose and therefore objectionable, in Europe, Japan and America for Food Products.

Applications

a) Active matter content
b) Granulation
c) Viscosity
d) pH
e) Degree of substitution

depending upon:

1) Food, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetic & Dialectic grade,
2) Technical Or Industrial Grade

Guar Gum is marketed in two basic forms:

Grades

a) Easy solubility in cold and hot water.
b) Fine film forming property.
c) Resistance to oils, greases & solvents.
d) Better thickening action.
e) Physiologically Inert nature.
f) Non-ionic, Anionic or Cationic character.
g) Water binding due to Hydrogen Bonding.

Guar Gum has the following properties, which make it useful in wide variety of applications:

Properties

The purified grade is used in the Pharmaceuticals, Dialectic, Cosmetic and Food Industries.

Guar gum is a white to creamy coloured, free flowing powder and free from extraneous matter. Its ability to suspend solids, bind water by hydrogen bonding, control the viscosity of aqueous solutions and form strong tough films, have accounted for its rapid growth and use in various industries. Industrial grade Guar Gum is used in Paper, Textile Processing, Explosives, Detergents, Drilling Fluids, Ceramics, Paints and many other industries.

There are various Grades of Guar Gums Pure or Derivatised.

Introduction

GUAR GUM