Guar gum, also called guaran, is a galactomannan polysaccharide extracted from guar beans that has thickening and stabilizing properties beneficial in food, feed, and industrial applications.

EC / List no.: 232-536-8

CAS no.: 9000-30-0

Synonym: Galactomannan Polysaccharide, Edible Gum (Guar Gum), Edible Gum (Gum Acacia), Edible Gum (INS 412), Emulsifier (E412), Emulsifier (INS 412), Emulsifier and Stabilizer (412), Emulsifying Agent (Guar Gum), Guar gum (INS412), Guar Gum E412, Gum, Natural Guar Gum, Stabilizer (E412), Stabilizer (INS 412), Stabilizing Agent (INS 412), Thickener (412), Thickener (INS 412), Thickeners(E412), Thickening Agent (E-412), Thickening Agent (INS 412)

Raw guar gum rapidly forms a thick gel when hydrated, rendering it less than palatable.

To improve the consumer experience, most marketed guar gum products are “partially hydrolyzed guar gum” (PHGG), but hydrolysis degrades viscosity/gel formation. 

Hence, the degree to which guar gum is hydrolyzed determines the degree to which viscosity and efficacy are attenuated/abolished.

Seeds of the guar plant are the principal source of this polysaccharide gum. 

Guar (Cyamposis tetragonoloba) is a member of the legume plant family, and its functional polysaccharide is found in the endosperm of its seeds. 

Guar gum is a polymer composed of two monosaccharides, mannose, and galactose, and is referred to as a galactomannan.

HS-Code: 130.232.30

CAS No. :9000-30-0

EEC No. : E412

EINECS No.: 232.536.8

Imco-Code: Harmless

Properties

Chemical composition

Guar gum is a galactomannan polysaccharide whose backbone structure consists of a linear chain of mannose with short lateral branches of galactose.

Chemically, guar gum is an exo-polysaccharide composed of the sugars galactose and mannose.

The backbone is a linear chain of β 1,4-linked mannose residues to which galactose residues are 1,6-linked at every second mannose, forming short side branches. 

Guar gum can withstand temperatures of 80 °C (176 °F) for five minutes.

Guar-gum-based products form films when cast from an aqueous solution. 

Guar-gum films have high tensile strength, are brittle, and do not elongate under stress. 

These properties are due to the gum's linearity, high molecular weight, and strong hydrogen bonds between polymer chains. 

Hydrophobic guar gum derivatives or plasticizers, such as glycerol or polyglycols, can improve film flexibility.

Guar gum is added to various dairy products, such as ice cream (for preventing ice crystal growth and for textural improvement), milkshakes (for preventing serum separation and adding viscosity and shear resistance), yogurt (for improved texture and mouthfeel and for preventing syneresis), aerated desserts (for gelation and foam stabilization), and slimming dietary products (for satiation and as a health-promoting nutritional fiber).

Guar gum is added to ice cream to prevent ice crystal growth and control texture during freezing. 

Guar gum is suitable for ice creams using high-temperature short-time processing due to its short hydration time (Mudgil et al., 2014). 

However, because guar gum is thermodynamically incompatible with milk proteins, phase separation is an issue. 

Similarly, guar gum has also been added to yogurt for stabilization and to prepare low-fat yogurt and products with high dietary fiber. 

Yogurt with improved rheological characteristics was prepared by Lee and Chang (2016) by adding guar gum. 

The use of guar gum as a fat replacer to prepare low-fat yogurt has been successfully demonstrated by Brennan and Tudorica (2008). 

The addition of guar gum reduced syneresis and improved texture and rheological characteristics, resulting in low-fat products comparable to full-fat products. 

Low-fat products containing guar gum as a fat replacer were found to be sensorially acceptable. 

Guar gum is also added to cheese as a stabilizer. 

Guar gum prevents syneresis, or weeping, through water-phase management, and thus also improves the texture and body of the product. 

In cheese products, guar gum can consist of up to 3% of the total product weight. 

Guar gum is used as a stabilizer, a fat replacer, and in the preparation of low-fat cheese. 

Oliveira et al. (2011) demonstrated that guar gum when added in the range of 0.0025% in low-fat milk, resulted in cheese with a thermal, textural, and rheological profile similar to that of the full-fat control. 

In addition, Chatziantoniou et al. (2014) have demonstrated guar gum's usefulness in preparing cheese spreads.

Solubility and viscosity

Guar gum is more soluble than locust bean gum due to its extra galactose branch points. 

Unlike locust bean gum, it is not self-gelling.

Either borax or calcium can cross-link guar gum, causing it to gel. 

In water, it is nonionic and hydrocolloid. 

It is not affected by ionic strength or pH but will degrade at extreme pH and temperature (e.g., pH 3 at 50 °C).

It remains stable in solution over the pH range of 5–7. 

The rheological characteristics of guar gum solutions are predominantly determined by the following factors: the solvent's nature, solution temperature, the concentration of guar gum, the pH of the solution, and the presence of foreign substances.

Guar gum is generally insoluble in hydrocarbons, alcohols, esters, and organic solvents. 

Conversely, in cold or hot water solutions, guar gum hydrates rapidly and forms high-viscosity colloidal solutions. 

In contrast to the other hydrocolloids, guar gum forms highly viscous solutions even in cold water. 

Furthermore, the effect of increased temperatures on guar gum structure, and therefore guar gum solutions, is reported insignificant as the treated guar gum solutions retain high-viscosity values when cooled to room temperature.

Thickening

One use of guar gum is a thickening agent in foods and medicines for humans and animals. 

Because gluten-free, it is used as an additive to replace wheat flour in baked goods.

It has been shown to reduce serum cholesterol and lower blood glucose levels.

Guar gum is also economical because it has almost eight times the water-thickening ability of other agents (e.g., cornstarch), and only a small quantity is needed to produce sufficient viscosity.

Because less is required, costs are reduced.

In addition to guar gum's effects on viscosity, its high ability to flow or deform gives it favorable rheological properties. 

It forms breakable gels when cross-linked with boron. 

It is used in various multi-phase formulations for hydraulic fracturing. 

Some use it as an emulsifier to prevent oil droplets from coalescing, and others as a stabilizer to prevent solid particles from settling and/or separating.

Fracking entails pumping sand-laden fluids into an oil or natural gas reservoir at high pressure and flow rates. 

This cracks the reservoir rock and props the cracks open. Water alone is too thin to carry proppant sand effectively, so guar gum is one of the ingredients added to thicken the slurry mixture and improve its ability to carry proppant. 

Several properties are essential: 

1. Thixotropic: The fluid should be thixotropic, meaning it should gel within a few hours. 

2. Gelling and de-gelling: The desired viscosity changes over a few hours. 

When the fracking slurry is mixed, it must be thin enough to make it easier to pump. 

Then, as it flows down the pipe, the fluid must gel to support the proppant and be flushed deep into the fractures. 

After that process, the gel has to break down so that it is possible to recover the fracking fluid but leave the proppant behind. 

This requires a chemical process that breaks the gel cross-linking at a predictable rate. 

Guar+boron+proprietary chemicals can accomplish both of these goals at once.

Ice crystal growth

Guar gum retards ice crystal growth by slowing mass transfer across the solid/liquid interface. 

It shows good stability during freeze-thaw cycles. 

Thus, it is used in egg-free ice cream. 

Guar gum has synergistic effects with locust bean gum and sodium alginate. 

It may be synergistic with xanthan: together with xanthan gum, it produces a thicker product (0.5% guar gum / 0.35% xanthan gum), used in applications such as soups, which do not require precise results.

Guar gum is a hydrocolloid that is useful for making thick pastes without forming a gel and keeping water bound in a sauce or emulsion. 

Guar gum can thicken cold and hot liquids, make hot gels and light foams, and stabilize emulsions. 

Guar gum can be used to make cottage cheese, curds, yogurt, sauces, soups, and frozen desserts. 

Guar gum is also a good source of fiber, with 80% soluble dietary fiber by dry weight.

The applications of Guar Gum are diverse because it is cost-effective, cold water soluble, and synergistic with many other hydrocolloids. 

These applications fall into two major groups: thickeners and moisture management. 

Instant bakery mixes, instant oatmeal, instant hot or cold beverages, and instant sauces utilize the cold water solubility of Guar Gum. 

Heated sauces, fillings, and bakery products leverage the combination of thickening and moisture management to increase product quality and shelf life. 

These functionalities also contribute to increased freeze-thaw stability in frozen desserts and entrees. 

Adding thickening in cold and hot liquids contributes to the suspension and consistency of ingredient distribution in beverages, soup, and sauce applications. 

The cost-effectiveness of Guar Gum contributes to its widespread use in food and other industrial applications.