What is Guar
Gum?
The ground
seeds of the guar plant (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) that is finely powdered in
the form of fiber is called guar gum. This product supports in
normalizing the moisture component in the stool as it absorbs surplus liquid in
people who are suffering with diarrhea and help in softening the stool during
constipation. Guar gum can also assist in bringing down the amount of cholesterol
and sugar that is present in the gut.
Guar gum in
general is believed to look like Locust Bean and Carob Bean Gum. The appearance
of guar gum ranges from white to cream and its powder and solution both are
odourless and is tasteless. The powder dissolves quickly in cold and hot water
however, it does not get dissolved in organic solvents. Guar gum is marginally
acidic in nature with pH of 1 percent solution that varies from 5.4 to 7.7.
Characteristics and
Cultivation of Guar Gum:
Guar is an old crop being
cultivated since ancient period. It is a rain fed yield and is normally seeded
after the monsoon season is over. In other words, guar is a drought-forbearing
plant that requires balanced legume crop and develops well in sandy soils. Guar
needs mild, occasional rainfall with heaps of sunshine that goes beneath the
soil.
The roots of guar plant
can grow well in horizontal direction as well. A few kinds of this crop have
little hair on all parts of the plant while some have smooth or no hair on the
leaves, stems and pods. The appearance of leaves is like trifoliate (having
three leaves or leaflets) and are manifested on long leaf stalks. The plants
grow at a height of 45-100 cm and have small and white flowers.
The hulls are square in
shape and 5 to 10 cm in length and every hull include 5 to 12 seeds of oval or
cube structure of varying size and colour. Every single seed is comprised of
hull, endosperm, and germ components, usually in a weight proportion of 15
percent, 40%, and 45% respectively. While guar is being processed all these
three components are split.
Once the seeds are sent to
the processing plant examined for removal of all sorts of dirt and broken seeds
and are cleaned with the use of a basic seed cleaning vibrators, electromagnets,
and shifter. The powder of guar gum is made after the hull and germ are removed
from the seed and the endosperm is grinded into a fine powder. Dry grinding and
wet grinding are two procedures used for dehulling and splitting of the seeds.
Usage of Guar
Gum:
·
Food and Beverage Industry: Guar gum is extensively used in the food and beverage sector,
where it is primarily utilised as a thickener and binder of free water. To
elaborate, in the food and beverage industry guar gum is put to use in bakery,
processed cheese, soups, pastry icing, noodles, meat, dressing and sauces, and
a variety of beverages. The product is predominantly used as it helps in
improving the texture of the food items, increase the yield of the dough,
enhances the shelf life, acts as a stabilizer, prevents excessive stickiness,
controls viscosity, and enhances body and mouth feel. Both the producers and the consumers like guar gum as it is
less expensive and a natural preservative.
·
Oil and Gas Well Drilling: The commercial significance of guar gum today is
owing to its usage in the oil and gas well stimulation particularly hydraulic
fracturing in which extreme pressure is used to break rocks. The fracturing
fluid is made thicker by using guar gum so that it can hold sand into fractured
rock. Hydroxypropyl guar (HPG) and carboxymethyl hydroxypropyl guar (CMHPG) are
the two guar derivatives that are utilised in fracturing process.
·
Textile and Carpet Printing: Guar gum stiffens
the dye solutions in textile and carpet printing, which permits more sharp
printed patterns that are required to be produced.
·
Explosives: For more than 25 years guar gum is being utilised
in explosives as a preservative to dynamite for blocking water. The product has
become the key gelling agent in water-based slurry explosives in the recent
years. Guar gums properties such as water blocking, swelling, and gelling make
it a useful additive in explosive sector.
·
Paper Production: The
inclusion of a small amount of guar gum to the pulp improves the production of
paper. It helps in the form of a fiber deflocculent and as a dry-strength
additive. Guar gum serves as a denser surface to the paper that is used in
printing.
·
Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals: Guar gum is used in conditioners and viscosifiers, as a
thickener in toothpastes and shampoos. It is also used as a binder as well as to
disintegrate compressed tablets and as a mild laxative and soluble dietary
fiber.
Interesting Facts About Guar Gum:
·
The generic names
for guar gum that are used in the scientific writing are Indian cluster bean,
guar and guaran.
·
The cultivated
genus is generally linked with India and Pakistan, where guar has been grown
for several eras in the form of food for both animals and humans.
·
Guar gum industry
was established between 1940s and 1950s in the U.S. The United States brought
guar before the World War I mainly as a green manure however it was not
utilised in industrial usages until 1943 and possibly it was the primary reason
why the product was studied in a limited extent.
·
Owing to its gel
forming properties, guar gum demonstrates lowering impacts of cholesterol and
glucose. Besides, its consumptions help in reducing weight and prevents
obesity.
Which Countries Produce High Volume of Guar
Gum?
The guar bean also known as cluster bean is
agrarian crop that is primarily cultivated in the dry zone of West and
North-West India, Pakistan, Sudan, and sections of the United States. In India
more than 850, 000 tonnes of guar crop are grown which is the 80 percent of the
total volume of the crop grown around the world. Also, 75 percent of the guar
gum or derivatives manufactured in India are exported, largely to the United
States and to European nations.
In western India, Rajasthan is the leading
guar producing state, holding 70 percent of the total production in the
country. In addition, guar is also popularly cultivated in in Gujarat, Haryana,
Punjab and in some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Today, guar is also grown in various countries
belonging to southern hemisphere, mainly in the semi-dry areas of Brazil,
Australia, and South Africa. Moreover, it is also grown in the southern zones
of the United States that is in Texas and Arizona.
Price Evaluation of Guar Gum in Few Regions
As on November 30th, 2022,
the prices for guar gum in India were INR 4423.43 per quintal (USD 54.45 per
quintal). In Asia Pacific, the price of
the guar gum displayed a curve change in the third quarter of 2022. The prices
increased in the second half of quarter three due to the growing demand and a
shortage of inventory. Guar gum prices were marked at USD 2110 per MT for CFR
Shanghai in September 2022.
Guar gum prices displayed an upward
trend of price curve with little fluctuation in the United States this was
mainly owing to the heavy demand in contrast to the stored stock at the
supply’s side. The cost of the product in September 2022 was at USD 2450 per MT
CFR Houston.
Key Players in the Guar Gum Market
·
Hindustan Gum
& Chemicals
·
Jai Bharat Gum
& Chemicals
·
Vikas WSP, Ltd.
·
India Glycols,
Ltd.
·
Shree Ram
Industries
·
Altrafine Gums
·
Lucid Group
·
Supreme Gum
Pvt. Ltd.
·
Neelkants
Polymers
Conclusion:
As per the evaluation by Procurement Resource, guar gum is the grounded seeds of the guar plant (Cyamopsis
tetragonoloba) that is finely powdered in the form of fiber. Normally, guar gum
looks like Locust Bean and Carob Bean Gum and is an old crop being cultivated
since ancient times. It is a rain fed produce and is usually seeded after the
monsoon season is over. Hull and germ are removed from the seed and the
endosperm is grinded into a fine powder to produce the powder of guar gum. Guar gum industry was established between 1940s and 1950s in
the United States. Guar was brought to the United Stated before the World War I
largely as a green manure. The
guar bean is an agricultural crop that is predominantly cultivated in the parched
zone of West and North-West India, Pakistan, Sudan, and sections of the United
States.
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