Author Archives: Ajit Patel

About Ajit Patel

CEO, Altrafine Gums With over Four decades of expertise in the natural gums and hydrocolloids industry, Ajit Patel leads Altrafine Gums, a globally recognized manufacturer and exporter of Guar Gum Powder, Cassia Tora Powder (Cassia Gum Powder) and other Hydrocolloids. Under his visionary leadership, the company has built a strong reputation for quality, innovation, and reliability across the food, feed, pet feed, pharmaceutical, mining, oil drilling and cosmetic sectors. Altrafine Gums has been serving global industries for decades with a focus on sustainable sourcing, research-driven production, and stringent quality control. Its wide product portfolio includes Guar Gum Powder, Cassia Tora Powder (Cassia Gum Powder) and other plant-based hydrocolloids that serve as key functional ingredients in diverse applications. Ajit Patel’s commitment to excellence ensures that every product from Altrafine meets international standards of performance and purity. He is passionate about advancing the global reach of Indian hydrocolloids, fostering customer trust, and promoting eco-friendly, science-backed solutions that enhance product formulation and performance worldwide.
Properties that Make Guar Gum useful Product for Commercial & Food Industries
Posted on by

Guar Gum and its Properties that Make it a Useful Product for Use in Food & Commercial Industries

Guar Seed - 2

Guar gum is a product of the guar plant which grows mainly in India, Australia and Pakistan. It is obtained from the guar seeds of the guar plant. This is a legume plant from whose endosperm the gum is obtained. The world’s largest producer of guar gum and guar gum powder is India. Today guar gum is a popular food and commercial additive, and reasons for this are the valuable benefits offered by the product in different types of industries. The guar products are economical than other forms of gum and hence have become very popular across various industrial verticals for their applications. Guar gum particularly has many properties that have been beneficial to many industries. Guar gum is also known as guaran. Guar gum manufacturing involves a series of industrial processes as discussed below.

Guar Gum – Industrial Processing and Manufacturing

In large scale production or for commercial production, Guar gum is obtained after roasting the splits, differential attrition, then sieving and finally polishing is done. The seeds, after harvesting, are split and screened to clean them before being soaked for pre-hydration. Soaked splits are then flaked and ground into powder and dried. The particle size is important and those that are oversize are often reground to achieve the desired fine size of particle. Products of the manufacturing process are husks, guar gum powder and germ. The husks and germ are not discarded; instead, they are used as cattle feed.

Guar Gum for Food and Other Commercial Applications

Guar gum is favoured due to its viscosity and solubility properties. These make it possible for manufacturers to use it for very many uses. Its application is in industries such as; food production, mining, oil, textile, pharmaceutical, cosmetics et cetera.

Guar gum is used as a stabiliser in food production industries to increase the shelf-life of processed products. This applies to most canned food. As a stabiliser, it also preventsthe separation of the solid and liquid components of a product. This applies to suspensions.

It preserves dairy products such as ice cream because it has the ability to reduce formation of ice crystal.

Guar gum has the property of a water binding agent. It is a water loss control additive that reduces water loss in dough and confectionary products.

When put in water, Guar gum forms a thick, uniform paste. Its great ability of water-thickening makes it very effective even in small amounts making it a very economical thickening agent. This is applied in food production for pastes and sauces and in the textile industries to form film used in printing. Cosmetic industries also use Guar gum in toothpastes, lotions, shampoos et cetera as a thickening agent.

As an emulsifier, Guar gum is used to prevent the amalgamation of oil droplets. This application is vital in food production and is extensively used in margarine, salad dressing and ice cream production.

Due to its ability to become uniformly viscous, Guar gum is used in mining industries as a friction reducing agent. It is applied in holes thus saving power by reducing friction increasing the efficiency of drilling machines.

Guaran is applied in pharmaceutical industries to help treat disorders such as diarrhoea, constipation et cetera.

Conclusion

The uses of the guar plant product stretch across different sectors of industries. They are useful in numerous production processes and this makes the guar a very special plant. Though cultivated extensively in India, other regions of the world are picking up and are already engaging in cultivation of this multi-functional legume plant and in guar gum manufacturing. Its usefulness makes it a real gem for industries. To know more information about our manufacturing and quality of guar gum please visit: https://www.altrafine.com/guar-gum-powder

Ajit Patel

This Article has been written & posted by .

About the Invaluable Applications of Guar Gum Powder in Different Industries
Posted on by

Guar gum is extracted from the guar plant’s endosperm.  The gum is extracted from legume plant and contains high rate of molecular carbohydrate. The total production of guar gum in the world is 700000 tonnes and this mainly comes from countries like India, Pakistan, USA, China and Africa, India being the leader among all the major producers of this valuable industrial product. India is the largest guar gum manufacturer in the world accounting for majority of the product export.

How is Guar Gum Powder extracted from the Actual Guar?

To produce guar gum powder, guar seeds have to pass through so many different processes. They are initially subjected to husk removal process by roasting. Once this is accomplished, the left over is the guar splits which are then put into a process known as screening. Screening is a process of filtration where unwanted particles and dust is removed. These splits are mixed with some amount of water in a mixer to hydrate them and then dried. These are grinded in order to produce fine powder which is then sieved to obtain quality gum powder. The left over by-product after sieving is used as cattle feed.

Guar gum is a valuable product with several invaluable applications in various sectors including pharmaceuticals, pet food, oil field, cosmetics, water treatment, textile, mining and fracturing etc. Let us now have a brief look on how actually the industries make use of this valuable product.

Guar Gum Applications in Pharmaceutical Industry:

Chemically known as hydro colloidal polysaccharide, guar gum has got many applications in the pharmaceutical market. It is composed of sugar galactose and mannose and is effective in controlling blood sugar or the common diabetes. It is helpful for colon cleansing, inflammation, weight loss and can also aid in proper functioning of intestine.

Guar Gum usage in Pet Food:

Guar gum is one of the most essential elements in pet food preparations. This naturally derived polysaccharide contains high soluble fibre which can help improve amino acid digestibility in animals and hence is found in all kinds of pet food in today’s market.

Guar Gum Application in Oil Field:

Guar gum is a very important substance used in the oil field for well drilling and fracturing needs. Guar gum is used as a thickening, stabilizing and suspending agent which improves the efficiency and the productive of drilling. It helps to balance the viscosity levels of the drilling mud and is an important product for oil field.

Use of Guar Gum in Cosmetics:

Excellent thickening and conditioning properties make guar gum an essential product for use in cosmetics. It is water soluble and effectively used as suspending agent in cosmetics including conditioning shampoos, cream conditions, lotions and other products. Guar gum is not affected by bacteria and hence good for use in cosmetics production.

Guar Gum for Textile

Guar Gum for Textile:

Guar gum is usedl in the textile industry for its excellent film forming and thickening properties. Use of guar gum in textile production will give better efficiency in the process while reducing the wrap breakage and dusting. It is a useful product for sizing of textiles and can give reliability and soft feel to the fabric.

Guar Gum Usage in Mining:

Guar gum is very useful in mining as it is used as flocculant to produce liquid solid separation. It is also used in flotation and can effectively act as a depressant for talc or insoluble gang mined along with valuable minerals.

Guar Gum Use in Fracturing:

The main purpose of guar gum additives is in fracturing. These are used to enhance the creation of fracture with minimal damage. Addition of guar gum can aid in maintaining high viscosities required for efficient oil well fracturing process. It can also help improve the ability of the fracturing liquid to transport the proppant while making the fracturing fluids more efficient thereby reducing the wastage during the process.

Click here to know more about Guar Gum Powder.

Guar Gum uses in Water Treatment:

Guar gum is a coagulant agent that increases floc size in water treatment. This will improve filtration efficiency and hence can produce clear water without any preliminary treatment required. This is accepted by most public water utilities everywhere.

Ajit Patel

This Article has been written & posted by .

Fenugreek Gum Powder and Its Uses
Posted on by

Properties of Fenugreek Gum Powder

fenugreek-seeds-250x250The fenugreek gum powder is tasteless and odourless. It contains galactomannan which is a polysaccharide made of galactose combined with mannan, high molecular compound of mannose. Galactomannan has the property of viscosity which can convert milk into ice cream, cocoa into chocolate and when dissolved in water it forms gum.

The ratio of galactose to mannose for fenugreek is 1:1 when compared to guar gum and locust bean gum having ratio of 1:2 and 1:4 respectively, it can be found that fenugreek gum powder contains more galactose and so has superior solubility as well as dispersiveness which results to forming of stable colloid for a longer period of time. As Mannan is hydrophobic, it is completely insoluble in water. But, as fenugreek gum powder is the combination of galactose which is hydrophilic and mannan which is hydrophobic, fenugreek gum is surface active. It means that fenugreek gum powder is an emulsifier which can mix water and oil. Thus, fenugreek gum works as a gum and an emulsifier both which has enabled its use as a stabilizer for food. Compared to other conventional gums like guar gum and locust bean gum, fenugreek gum has superior characteristics and so is used in many industries. To know more about fenugreek gum powder please visit: https://www.altrafine.com/fenugreek-gum-powder.html.

Uses of Fenugreek Gum Powder

Due to the presence of galactomannan in high proportion as the major component, in fenugreek gum powder, it has the quality of controlling blood sugar and blood lipid. So, it is considered very good for obesity and diabetic patients. Fenugreek gum powder also helps in reducing cholesterol, hypertension and chance of heart attack. Fenugreek gum powder also has the distinctive properties due to which the level of sugar in the blood can be lowered. Due to so many medicinal properties, fenugreek gum powder is used in tablet and capsules. It is also used in weight control formulation and other diet food.

Guar Gum Powder and Its Uses
Posted on by
guar_gum_powder

Guar gum is a fiber extracted from the seeds of guar plant. It is an important product for several industrial applications including food, feed, pet food, textile, cosmetics, paper, oil drilling and fracturing, petrochemicals etc. However it’s most important application lies in food industry. Because of its valuable physical and chemical structure with excellent thickening properties, guar gum exhibits some valuable properties which are of great use in food applications like stabilizing, gelling and emulsifying. Guar gum or the popular Gumme de guar, as called in French and goma guar, as called in Spanish and guarkernmehl,

as called in german, has excellent water solubility and shows stability across various pH levels. Therefore it is added in several food products as a thickening, stabilizing, emulsifying, binding and gelling agent. There are several ways guar gum can be used in food, food and pet food.

Some of the applications of guar gum as food ingredients are implied below

Guar Gum as Additive in Baked Products and Gluten-Free Recipes

Guar gum or guarkernmehl or gumme guar or goma guar is used as an additive in several baked food products. It is used to replace flour in the baked products and therefore is an important food additive for the preparation of gluten-free recipes that are better to digest. When used as additive in baked products, guar gum has tendency to improve the softness and stiffness of the product. Guar gum absorbs water in the food and makes the mixing of the batter easy. Therefore by using guar gum as additive in baked products, life of the food product can be enhanced while reducing it’s time of preparation.

Guar Gum in Desserts and Frozen Foods

The stabilizing and thickening property of guar gum makes it a valuable additive in preparation of desserts and frozen foods especially the ice creams. Guar gum prevents the frozen foods from melting and therefore added in frozen desserts. By adding guar gum ice crystals are not formed and a smooth texture is imparted to the ice creams making them feel soft and easily to melt when eaten due to guar gum emulsifying properties.

Guar Gum in Soups, Sauces

Guar gum is added in soups and sauces as a thickening agent and stabilizing agent. When added in soups and sauces, guar gum absorbs the excess water present in them and therefore makes these food products natural viscous. Guar gum additives enhance the shelf life of the sauces and soups prepared.

Guar Gum Additive for Low Calorie Foods

If you are looking for weight loss and low calorie food is what you eat most of the time, you must be aware of the guar gum additives available in the market today. Guar gum is added in several low calorie foods to give them the mouth-feel of oils without the presence of fat in them. Guar gum as food additive can be an important additive for preparation of low calorie cake icings, cheeses, bakery products, salad dressings, sour cream, frozen desserts, condiments and sausages.

Cassia Gum Powder and Its Synergy with Uses
Posted on by

Gel (synergy) with Carrageenan or Xanthan Gum

cassia_gum_powderCassia gum forms firm, thermoplastic gels with carrageenan. As the level of cassia gum is increased, the gel strength of carrageenan solutions is also increase. Cassia gum and carrageenan gel is stable due to the excellent retorting stability of cassia gum.

Cassia gum and xanthan gum, on their own, do not have the ability to form gels. But cassia gum combined with xanthan gum, aqueous dispersions of cassia gum form cohesive, elastic gels. As with carrageenan, cassia is more efficient at forming gels with xanthan gum than other galactomannans, enabling lower total hydrocolloid levels in finished formulations. This is due to the unique branched polysaccharide galactose/mannose structure of cassia gum.

Cassia gum is manufactured from the endosperm of Senna obtusifolia or Cassia obtusifolia or Cassia Tora or Cassia Occidentalis). It is mainly used as a thickener and gelling agent in foods and pet foods. Cassia grows mainly in subtropical regions and is grows mostly wild and occasionally cultivated.

Cassia Gum is comprised of at least 75% polysaccharide consisting primarily of a linear backbone chain of mannose with side galactose units The ratio of Mannose : Galactose is about 5: 1.

Cassia gum, like LBG can form gels with other colloids like Carrageenan and Xanthan and is therefore used in the manufacture of gels in the food and pet food applications in combination of other colloids.
Cassia Tora has natural gelling properties. It can be used as a substitute for coffee.

Some of the other applications of Cassia Powder include

Food for Pet (E499)
Cassia is used as a food for pets substituting locust bean gum or carob gum. It is used with the combination of Kapa Carrageenan as wet canned pet food.

Food Additive (E427)
In many industries it is used as a food additive. It is a natural additive.

Fresheners
Cassia is a gelling agent used as an air freshener in the form of gels.

Along with above, Cassia Tora powder has other applications used especially in food industries as it has an excellent gelling property as compared to other colloids used. It is also used for emulsification, foam stabilization and for the purpose of moisture retention.

Medicinal uses
Cassia tora powder has properties, useful in healing skin diseases like ring worm, psoriasis and itch.

Altrafine Gums, a manufacturer and exporter of producing an extensive range of gum that includes Cassia Tora Powder for pet food and Cassia Tora Powder for food additives With additional natural gelling property Cassia Tora is also useful as gelling additives.

Fast Hydration Guar Gum Powder
Posted on by

Fast Hydration Guar Gum Powder1

The natural fast hydrating, dispersible and diesel slurriable guar gum is ideally suitable for all rheological requirements of oil well drilling, continuous fracturing and diesel slurry. It is widely used in oil well drilling due to its multi-function such as fluid and water loss control, viscosity control, lubrication. It is used for cooling of drill bits, mud drilling and cementing slurries, where immediate high viscosity and quick hydration is required.The main use of guar gum is in top hole oil well drilling. Industrial grade guar gum powder is suitable for use in oil well fracturing, oil well stimulation, mud drilling and serves as a stabilizer, thickener and suspending agent.

In oil well drilling guar gum used as a surfactant, fracturing fluid and synthetic polymer for all requirements of water based and brine based oil well drills. It attains high viscosity in 3 to 5 minutes of time.

Industrial grade Guar gum powder are use in oil well fracturing, oil well stimulation, mud drilling and industrial applications and preparations as a stabilizer, thickener and suspending agent.

It is a natural, fast hydrating dispersible guar gum and is diesel slurriable.

In the oil field industry, guar gum is used as a surfactant, synthetic polymer and deformer ideally suited for all rheological requirements of water-based and brine-based drilling fluids.

Fast Hydration Guar Gum PowderHigh viscosity Guar Gum products are used as drilling aids in oil well drilling, geological drilling and water drilling.

These products are used as viscosifiers to maintain drilling mud viscosities that enable drilling fluids to remove drill waste from deep holes.

Guar gum products also reduce friction in the holes, and so minimising power requirements. Some Guar Gum products act to minimise water loss should occur in broken geological formations.

Sesbania Gum Powder and its Uses
Posted on by

sesbaniaNowadays a wide range of gum powders are used for a variety of purposes. These gum powders also comprise of the sesbania gum powder. Sesbania gum is mainly extracted from the seeds of sesbania. The sesbania seeds are also known as sesbania aculeate. They grow on the small sesbania tree which is basically a native of China, Asia and Africa. Sesbania is an annual plant that can grow normally up to two meters high. It has tough, fibrous and short stems, long leaves and yellow flowers with purple spots. The sesbania shrub produces pods that have light brown beans.

Sesbania gum powder is easily soluble in hot as well as cold water. It is a polymer that is also categorized as galactomannan polysaccharide. The sesbania gum powder is generally a white or cream colored, loose milky powder. Although it dissolves in water, it is not soluble in alcohol, ketones, ethers and other organic solvents. When sesbania gum powder is mixed in cold water at room temperature, it forms a highly viscous water soluble solution that has a pH value of 6 to 11. The viscosity of this sesbania gum powder is usually 5 to 10 times more compared to the natural gum plant, sodium alginate, starch.

Furthermore, the constituents and specifications of sesbania gum powder are as follows. It has a minimum viscosity of 2000 to 2500 cps. And when the viscometer is used at a temperature of 25 degrees and speed of 20 rpm, it has a maximum viscosity of 3000 to 3500 cps. Further sesbania gum powder has a moisture content  of maximum 12 percent, passing 90 percent, proteins 5 percent, fat 1 percent, A.L.R. 3 percent, Ash 1 percent, pH between 5.5 to 7.0,  carbohydrates minimum 80 percent, arsenic maximum 3 ppm, lead maximum 2 ppm, and heavy metals maximum 20 ppm.

Besides this, it has been found after performing microbiological tests, that the sesbania gum powder contains a total plate count per grams of maximum 5000, yeast and mold per gram of maximum 200, salmonella per 25 grams is not present, and also, E. colli and Colliforn is not available.

Uses of Sesbania Gum Powder

Sesbania gum powder has several domestic, commercial and industrial applications. It is widely utilized as a sizing agent and dye thickener in the textile industry. Besides this sesbania gum powder is also used for making incense. Actually the most important usage of these sesbania seeds is in oil industry.  This is due to the fact that it is highly useful as a blocking agent, water resistance and reduction agent; as well as a tackifier for producing fluid cracking that helps to increase the rate of oil production.

Another major application of sesbania gum powder is as a flocculant in water and for treatment of waste water. Moreover, it is also available at a lower price than guar gum powder and can acquire a viscosity between 1500 cps to 3500 cps. Therefore sesbania gum powder is considered as the best substitute for guar gum powder.