Guar, (Cyamopsis Tetragonolobous (Linn) Taub) is a pod bearing plant belonging to the Lagiminosae Family. It is a crop growing in semi arid – sub tropical areas spread over north-north western India and east-south eastern Pakistan. Being a monsoon crop, it requires rain in more than 2 spells and is harvested in September-October- November.

History of Guar : Guar was originally used as a cattle feed full of proteins. Later on, it was discovered that the gum derived from Guar seeds is much superior than that of Locust Beans. The technology of extracting gum from Guar was commercialised in 1953 in the US and then a decade later in India. Because of its basic characteristic of being a natural polymer, in early days, Guar gum was used more in the paper industry. It has now been accepted widely in various industries where it is used as a viscosifier, thickener, binder, gelling agent, stabilizer, emulsifier, flocculant, water holding agent etc…

About Guar Gum : Small Guar plants are either cut from the stem or uprooted and dried in the sun. Seeds are then extracted from the pods of these plants either mechanically or manually on the farm itself. Guar gum is obtained from ground endosperms of these seeds. It consists mainly of a high molecular weight hydro colloidal polysaccharide, composed of glactan and mannan units combined through glycodisic linkages, which can be described chemically as Glactomannan.

Properties of Guar gum like

• Produces high viscosity even at low concentration (3500-4000 cps in 1 solution)

• Non-ionic and maintains a high viscosity over a broad range of pH (3-9)

• Compatible with a variety of organic and inorganic substances including certain dyes and various constituents of food

• Excellent thickening, stabilizing and film forming capabilities

• Excellent setting (flocculation) properties, even at low concentration, acts like a filter aid

• Strong hydrogen bonding properties
  are primarily responsible for the texture and improved quality of food as well as the physical effects in industrial applications. Polysaccharide gums greatly modify the behaviour of water in a system, by interacting with the environmental molecules, such as the proteins, lipids, clay and minerals. The acceptability of a gum depends very much on such interactions. An ever increasing list of its uses in various application areas is one very strong reason why Guar gum, a late comer in the commercial market, has become a product of envy by other polysaccharides