How Gums are Used in Personal Care Products

Gum in a personal care product? It seems contradictory – wouldn’t that solidify a free-flowing powder? However, a variety of gums are regularly added into personal care products. Learn how gums are valuable assets to skin care manufacturers and how you can benefit from one from the vast inventory of the personal care chemical supplier, Bell Chem.

Xanthan gum 

In personal care products, xanthan gum reigns supreme as a multi-purpose tool. It improves the consistency of gels and serums and stabilizes oil and water combinations as an emulsifier. Because xanthan gum is extremely affordable and easy to source, many manufacturers turn to it before all other gums.  Xanthan gum can be used in a wide pH range and is stable in cold- or hot-processed products. Xanthan gum works well with anionic and nonionic ingredients.

Locust bean gum 

As the name describes, locust bean gum is harvested from plants and is therefore considered vegan. Added to creams, gels, and lotions for hair and skin, locust bean gum has a very good gelling capacity. 

Guar gum 

A thickener derived from the Cyamopsis tetragonolobus legume, guar gum hydrates in warm or cold water to produce a thick gel. Its consistency changes to stringy when used alone, but in conjunction with xanthan gum, the product becomes highly viscous. Since it does not carry a charge, guar gum can be used with ingredients of any ionic charge. 

Arabic (acacia) gum 

While arabic gum is not ideal as a thickener, it is an excellent stabilizer and emulsifier, interacting primarily with lipids. Its other positive attribute is the silky feel it imparts to skin products. For any products that change the skin’s color, arabic gum acts as a film that allows pigments within the foundation to adhere to the skin.

Tragacanth (trag) gum

Traditionally manufactured from the sap of plants, vegan tragacanth gum is used in shampoo, where it may promote hair growth. As an emulsifier, you often see tragacanth gum added to lotions and creams. When compared to arabic gum, only half the amount of tragacanth gum is necessary for similar results.

Bell Chem is a personal care chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including triethanolamine. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Guar Gum in the Dairy Industry

It may be surprising that guar gum is widely used in the dairy industry, but almost any dairy product removed from a grocery store’s refrigerated or frozen section contains this important ingredient. Let Bell Chem, your food ingredient supplier, tell you about the varied uses of guar gum in many dairy products.

How it works

Guar gum is an inexpensive hydrocolloid polysaccharide with a short hydration time, making it ideal for frozen treats. Closely related to string beans, this legume seems an odd ingredient in dairy foods, but its varied uses give it top billing in many manufactured treats.

Ice cream

Guar gum prevents the formation of ice crystals in ice cream, slows melting, and stabilizes the texture even after it is repeatedly frozen and thawed. It also creates a better mouthfeel because of its rheological behavior. Milkshakes without guar gum would quickly separate into distinct layers and show a much weaker viscosity. 

Dietary products

Because guar gum is a fiber, it is often added to milk-based dietary products to give a feeling of satiation to the consumer.

Yogurt

As yogurt is produced, whey rises to the top for easy separation. However, a small amount of the watery whey remains locked in the yogurt until the weight of the solid forces the liquid whey to the surface once more. To prevent this syneresis, which changes the overall texture of the yogurt, manufacturers add guar gum. Low-fat yogurt maintains its characteristic richness and body when guar gum both replaces fat and adds fiber.

Cheeses and cheese spreads

Much like yogurt, cheeses and cheese spreads contain guar gum as a stabilizer via water-phase management to give a better texture and body as it counters whey from forming on the exterior (weeping). It is also used as a fat replacement for low-fat and fat-free yogurt.

Puddings and mousses

In puddings, guar gum acts as a thickener and increases a pudding’s viscosity. Mousses and other aerated desserts form a firmer stabilized foam gel with the addition of guar gum, lifting whipped mousses to a new level.

Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including guar gum. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Guar Gum in the Food Industry

From its lowly moniker derived from Sanskrit (“food for cows”), guar has been grown for thousands of years in India. For its industrial uses, guar gum is ideal for thickening and stabilizing liquids, emulsifying and binding, and its solubility in cold water and biodegradability. These properties and many others give guar gum from your industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem applications over several industries.

Baked Goods and Confections 

Guar gum improves the texture of batters, which, in turn, gives better crumb structure to the baked product. Dough volume and moisture retention increase with guar gum as it extends the shelf life of baked goods. Candy viscosity, bonding properties, and moisture retention improve with guar gum, which also acts as a glaze for many confections.

Beverages and Dairy Products

Guar gum thickens juices and other beverages, improving their mouthfeel. It also stabilizes processed cheese, improving flavor, color, and texture. In ice cream and kefir, the texture improves significantly, melting is impeded, and ice crystallization halts.  

Gluten-Free Foods

Most gluten-free batters are more free flowing than that of their counterparts. Guar gum thickens these batters, creating more palatable baked goods. 

Meats

Sausages and other processed meats must be bound, and guar gum exceeds expectations in this regard. It also absorbs water, improves the rate of flow as sausage is formed, and emulsifies the final product.

Noodles

With the addition of guar gum, noodles retain moisture as the texture and form stabilizes.

Soups, Sauces and Dressings

Guar gum stabilizes these foods as it thickens them, which improves flow during processing. 

People often ask how food additives affect health. In the case of guar gum, studies have proven its effectiveness in suppressing hunger, which can lead to weight loss. Because guar gum is a polysaccharide, it acts as an energy storage component. Also, guar gum is eight times more effective at thickening than cornstarch, so only a tiny amount is necessary for similar results. 

Guar gum contains significant amounts of protein and acts as a water-soluble fiber, which gives it properties similar to a bulk-forming laxative for aiding in digestion. As a soluble fiber, guar gum may also retard the absorption of sugar, which decreases blood sugar and cholesterol levels. 

Bell Chem is your industrial chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including guar gum. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

What You Didn’t Know About Guar Gum

Guar gum, an off-white powder also known as guaran, is made from ground guar beans, which are de-husked, milled and screened. Guar beans are grown throughout India and Australia, as well as the United States, Pakistan, China and Africa. However, India is the main producer of guar beans, producing over a million tonnes each year and accounting for over 3/4 of the production worldwide. Guar gum has many industrial and food applications, as the largest market for this chemical product is the food industry. Some of the most popular food applications include:

• In canned soup, guar gum is used as a thickener/stabilizer.

• In sauces, salad dressings, ketchups, relishes and other condiments, guar gum enhances the appearance and stability.

• For dairy products like milk, liquid cheese and yogurt, guar gum acts as a food thickener. For food products such as ice creams and sherbets, guar gum helps maintain a uniform texture throughout by preventing ice crystals from forming.

• In baked goods, guar gum improves texture, as well as shelf life. It also increases dough yield.

Some of the most popular industrial applications include:

• In the textile industry, guar gum is used for sizing, finishing and printing.

• In the explosives industry, guar gum is used as a waterproofing agent.

• In the pharmaceutical industry, guar gum is used as a binder and disintegrator in tablets.

• In medical institutions, guar gum is used to thicken liquids and foods for patients with dysphagia. It is also known to treat diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, and diabetes, as well as reduce cholesterol.

At our Orlando chemical supply company, guar gum is just one of the many nutritional chemical products we offer. We also stock many hard to find tech-grade chemicals, USP ingredients and custom compounds. Call us at 407-339-BELL (2355) for a full list of our chemical products.