Depending
upon the requirement of end product various processing techniques
are used. In India the commercial production of Guar gum is normally
undertaken by using process of roasting, differential attrition,
sieving and polishing.
The stage wise process of manufacturing food
grade guar gum is as under. It is very important to select guar
split in this process. The split will be screened to clean and
then it will be soaked to prehydrate in a double cone mixer/Washing
conveyor. Prehydrating stage is very important in the process
as it derives the rate of hydration of the final product.
The soaked splits, which has reasonably high
moisture content, will be passed through Flacker to take them.
The flaked guar split will be predried in duct dryer. The dried
guar flake will be ground to desired particle size in ultrafine
grinder followed by drying of the material in flash dryer. The
power will be screened through rotary screens to deliver required
particle size. The oversize will be either recycle to main Ultra
fine or regrind in separate regrind plant, as per viscosity requirement.
This stage helps to reduce the load at the grinder.
The soaked splits are difficult to grind. Direct grinding generates
more heat in the grinder which is not desired in the process as
it results in insoluble or reduced hydration of the product. Through
heating, grinding & polishing process the husk is separated
from the endosperm halves and the refined Guar Gum split are obtained.
Through grinding process the refined Guar split are then treated
and converted into powder.
During the split manufacturing process, husk
& germ are obtained which are used as a cattle feed as they
are rich in protein. It is widely sold in the international market
as "Guar Meal" and has contents of "Oil & Albuminoids".
These contents are about 50% in germ whereas it is about 25% in
husks. Quality of the food grade guar gum powder is defined from
its particle size, rate of hydration and the microbial in it.
E412 guar gum is an important natural food supplement with high
nutritional value.
Equipments for guar gum processing plant: |