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Guar gum is a galactomannan polysaccharide extracted from guar beans and is an efficient nonionic thickener and rheology modifier. Guar gum is derived from guar beans that are mechanically de-husked, hydrated, milled and screened according to application. Supplied as a light tan granular powder, guar gums are efficient thickeners that form highly thixotropic aqueous solutions when prepared at concentrations greater than 1%. SNP’s guar gums can be used in numerous applications. Send us an email or call to start a conversation about working with us.
Guar gum is easily soluble in cold water due to its abundance of galactose branch points. It is not self-gelling. Guar gum can be cross-linked with borax or calcium to form a gel. Guar gum is nonionic and hydrocolloidal. Guar gum is stable in solution over a pH range of 5 – 7. It is not affected by ionic strength or pH, but will degrade at extreme pH and temperature (e.g., pH 3 at 50 °C). Strong acids cause hydrolysis, and loss of viscosity and alkalis in strong concentration also tend to reduce viscosity. It is insoluble in most hydrocarbon solvents.
The viscosity of guar gum solutions is dependent on temperature, concentration, pH, rate of agitation and particle size of the powdered gum used. Finer guar powders swell more rapidly than larger particle size coarse powdered gum. Guar gum is strongly sheer thinning and shows a clear low shear plateau on the flow curve. The rheology of guar gum is typical for a random coil polymer. It does not show the very high low shear plateau viscosities seen with more rigid polymer chains such as xanthan gum. Guar gum is very thixotropic above 1% concentration, but below 0.3%, the thixotropy is slight.
Guar gum is an economical thickener because it has almost eight times the water-thickening ability of other thickening agents (e.g., starch, CMC, sodium alginate) and only a small quantity is needed for producing sufficient viscosity. Guar gum has up to eight times the thickening power of starch.
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. In some formulations, guar gum can act as an emulsifier because it helps prevent oil droplets from coalescing and in other formulation it acts as a stabilizer to help prevent solid particles from settling and/or separating.
Surface sizing
Binder, thickener
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