Guar gum is extracted from guar bean also known as Cyamopsis Tetragonoloba. The guar beans are principally grown in India and Pakistan where India accounts for 80% of global trade in guar products (Reuters report). Areas of North western and western India are best suited for Guar farming. Jodhpur, Rajasthan in the north western part of India being the most important destination for guar gum processing.

Guar gum has more galactose branching which made it a better stabilizer and increases its solubility in comparison to locust bean gum. Its not a self-gelling like locust bean gum. Guar gum shows low-shear viscosity but strong shear thinning. Concentration above 1% made it highly thixotropic but it shows low thixotropic properties below 0.3% concentration.

Guar gum is used as emulsifier, thickener and stabilizer with wide range of industrial applicat- ions especially in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Guar gum is very economical in comparison to other thickening agents. It shows almost 8 times the water thickening properties than starch. Guar gum has a property to prevent oil droplets from coalescing which makes it a very good emulsifier. It also prevents solid particles from settling, so it is also used a stabilizers in various industries.