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Guar gum is obtained from the seed of the guar plant, a leguminous
plant grown in Pakistan and India. It is a hydrophilic polysaccharide
that is highly dispersible in cold and hot water and because
of this property, it can be used in a variety of water systems
as a viscosifier,
water binder,
emulsifier and stabilizer.
The
guar plant has been growing mainly in the arid and semi-arid
rain-irrigated regions of Pakistan and India for thousands
of years and was used primarily as a food crop for animals
and humans. The germ portion of the plant is composed mainly
of protein while the endosperm is made up mainly of galactomannan.
It is from the endosperm that the guar gum is derived.
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