Function:

• Guar gum is an economical thickener and stabilizer. It hydrates fairly rapidly in cold water to give highly viscous pseudoplastic solutions of generally greater low-shear viscosity when compared with other hydrocolloids and much greater than that of locust bean gum. High concentrations (~ 1%) are very thixotropic but lower concentrations (~ 0.3%) are far less so. Guar gum is more soluble than locust bean gum and a better emulsifier as it has more galactose branch points. Unlike locust bean gum, it does not form gels but does show good stability to freeze-thaw cycles. Guar gum shows high low-shear viscosity but is strongly shear-thinning. Being non-ionic, it is not affected by ionic strength or pH but will degrade at pH extremes at temperature (for example, pH 3 at 50°C). It shows viscosity synergy with xanthan gum. With casein, it becomes slightly thixotropic forming a biphasic system containing casein micelles.
• Guar gum retards ice crystal growth non-specifically by slowing mass transfer across solid/liquid interface.

Packing: 25kg/Bag, usually 20 tons in one 20' container without pallets