For many a centuries, a vegetable having tremendous industrial potentials has been in cultivation in our part of the world but it is being used mainly as animal fodder.

It is guar, the industrial importance of which was realized by the middle of the 20th century, when its seeds were first used for making gum. Modern applications of the gum made out of guar have given so amazing results that now the vegetable has become a sort of ‘white gold’.

Guar is a legume, native to Pakistan and India. It was introduced beyond its original home for the first time in the early part of the last century, when the USA and Australia cultivated it in their warmer regions. At present, guar is grown in Pakistan, India, the USA, Australia, Malawi and Zaire.

Dry and warm weather is most suitable for this crop. Optimum temperature required for its roots to develop is between 77 and 95 degrees F. It thrives on a wide range of soil types, including sandy soils of low fertility. It needs far lesser volume of water than any other competing crop and drought resistance is its important attribute. Another property of the crop is that it is an excellent green manure. It helps in soil building. The succeeding crop (e.g. wheat etc) in farms where guar has been in cultivation, gives 5 to 10 per cent more yield.

Climatic and soil conditions prevalent in Thar and Nara Valley in Sindh, Thal and Cholistan in the Punjab, Lasbella and Sibi in Balochistan and D.I. Khan in the NWFP. are ideal for growing guar. In 1998-99, guar was cultivated on 148,400 hectares in the country and its total production that year was 134,700 tonnes. The right time for guar-sowing for seed purposes is from the 3rd week of June to the first week of July. The crop is harvested in October/November. Usual yield per acre is 600-800 kgs.

For gum manufacturing, the most vital part of seed is its endosperms. The process of obtaining gum from guar seeds is quite hi-tech. To begin with, blowers and separators are used to remove dust, debris and stones from the seeds. Clean and uniform sized grains are then fed into a rotation roaster for thermal treatment. While the seeds are hot, hulling machines pulverize the husk and germ and separate them from the harder intact split (endosperms). This split is further processed, ground and sieved into a fine powder. That is guar gum. The remaining germ or meal is separately ground for use as stock feed. The colour of the guar powder is white to off-white. This gum is odour-free. It is traded in powder form.

Uses: Guar gum is a very versatile product. Alone or in combination with other natural or synthetic gums, it is useful in numerous food and non-food applications. The industrial consumption of guar gum can be divided into various user industries, viz:

i) food; ii) textile; iii) pharmaceutical; iv) paper; v) oil and well-drilling; vi) chemical and; vi) explosives.

Such a gum is becoming increasingly common in food, as it plays an important role in processing stages and final presentation of the product. It is used in soups, desserts, salad dressings, deep frozen foods, beverages, soft cheese, yogurt, instant mixes, bakery products, confectionery, canned foods and baby foods, where it acts as emulsifier, stabilizer suspending agent, thickener and mouth-feel improver.

One feature of guar gum is that although it comprises simple sugars, it is not digested by human enzymes. Naturally, therefore, it has zero calories. It adds texture and creamy mouth-feel to food but passes through the body undigested. Because of these properties, it is used in slimming, weight-loss, cholesterol-reduction and diabetic products. In view of its enormous health benefits, the gum is globally permitted for use without restrictions as a food additive upto a maximum of 2 per cent of the final product.

Lower grades of guar gum are used for non-food industrial purposes. Because of its thickening property, the gum is used for textile sizing, printing and finishing. In paper industry, it is added to the pulp suspension before the sheet is formed. It gives a denser surface to the paper. To help maintain the explosive properties of the explosive products even in wet conditions, guar gum is used after being mixed with ammonium nitrate, nitro-glycerine etc. The gum’s use in explosives prevents misfires in moist atmosphere. It has numerous other uses.

Exports: Pakistan exported 23,550 tones of guar and guar products in 1998. The export went down to 19,430 tones in 1998-99. The year 1999-2000 was the best year for Pakistan, when exports reached 25,900 tonnes. Exports squeezed to 22,130 tones in 2000-2001. There was a further decline in export in 2001-2002 when the country exported 16,390 tonnes. During July-April 2002-2003, the value of guar and guar products exports shot up to $19.93 million from $13.93 million in July-April 2001-2002.