A polysaccharide that comes in the family of hydrocolloids Xanthan Gum has great binding powers in water. Why is food grade Xanthan Gum important for food manufacturers and suppliers?

1. Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide that bacterium known as Xanthomonas campestris secrets. This gum is
a good food additive as well as a modifier of rheology. Xanthan gum is also useful as thickening agent of
food items such as salad dressing or as a stabiliser in many cosmetic products to prevent separation of
various ingredients in the items. Xanthan gum is composed of five sugars, apart from glucuronic acid,
mannose and glucose. The molar ratio of Xanthan gum is 2.8: 2.0:2.0. This gum can be obtained by
fermentation of glucose, lactose or sucrose. When the fermentation period is completed, the
polysaccharide will be precipitated from a standard growth medium, such as isopropyl alcohol. After
precipitation, the gum will be dried and get ground into fine powder form. Finally, it gets added to some
liquid medium to form Xanthan gum and the Xanthan gum supplier offers it to consumers.
Synthesis of Xanthan gum originates from glucose as the standard substrate to synthesise sugar
nucleotide precursors, such as UDP-glucuronate, UDP-glucose, and UDP-mannose. These precursors
are necessary to build the repeat unit of pentasaccharide. This process links Xanthan synthesis to the
central metabolism of carbohydrate. The Xanthan gum supplier builds the repeat units using
undecaprenyl-phosphate lipid carriers. These carries are normally anchored in cytoplasmic membranes.
Particular glycosyltranserases transfer nucleotide sugar precursors of Xanthan sugar moieties
sequentially to lipid carriers. Then the producer of Xanthan gum adds residues of pyruvyl and acetyl
residues as non-carbohydrate decorations. Whey powder, a byproduct during cheese production, is
mostly a combination of lactose and water. When the X. campestris bacterium that grows easily on
lactose is added to whey powder, Xanthan gum is produced. It is widely used in several commercial
products such as salad dressings, shampoos, etc.
Polyanionic cellulose or PAC is derived from cellulose. PAC is mainly used in oilfield practice. Though
PAC and CMC or carboxymethyl cellulose get manufactured from same raw materials, the final products
are different through the adjustmnet of the type of stoichiometry and cellulose of the reactants. The main
difference between the production processes of both these products is the step of radicalisation.
Basically, polyanionic cellulose is a type of water soluble cellulose ether. It is a derivative of natural
cellulose through chemical modification. It is very important water soluble cellulose ether. Normally, the
sodium salt of polyanionic cellulose is widely used by people involved with petroleum drilling, particularly
in offshore oil drilling and salt well drilling. Polyanionic cellulose supplier offers this non-toxic, tasteless
product in white or light yellow particles or powder. It solves easily in both cold and hot water and it is also
strong in hygroscopicity.
Polyanionic cellulose polymer possesses excellent heat resistant stability, strong antibacterial activity,
and is salt tolerant. The fluid or slurry prepared from polyanionic cellulose has higher capacity to reduce
fluid loss, greater temperature tolerance, and rejection capability. Hence, it is one of the main fluids used
in offshore oil drilling or salt well drilling. The drilling mud is suspended matter of solid in an aqueous
solution. Similar to other types of colloidal suspension dispersions, drilling mud has limited life period.
Polyanionic cellulose supplier helps in keeping the drilling mud stable and prolonging its life period.
The mixture of polyanionic cellulose with drilling mud will form solid but thin shaft wall and remain as filter
cake having low permeability. This reduces hole shrinkage in drilling and also prevents collapse
phenomena that results from water loss of drilling mud.

2. Basically Xanthan Gum is a component in the family of hdydrocolloids. It is termed as polysaccharide by
the scientists. One of the most important attributes of the gum is that it takes the form of a gel and exudes
great binding power several times. That is why food grade Xanthan gum is extremely valuable for food
producers and suppliers as food additive.
Major components of Xanthan Gum are as follows.
1. Xanthan gum suppliers use carbohydrates that are contained in corns, soy, dairy products, or
wheat to manufacture the gum.
2. Bacteria named Xanthomonas campestris is used for production of the gum.
3. Name of the gum is inspired by the name of the bacteria used to create it.
Manufacturing of Xanthan Gum is carried out with the following procedures.
1. Process of fermentation is used with Xanthomonas campestris that is a bacterium.
2. When the bacteria are introduced to carbohydrate components, Xanthum Gum is produced as a
byproduct.
3. Isopropyl alcohol is used to segregate the byproduct from the original solution.
4. After segregation the byproduct is dried and then milled into find powder.
5. Byproduct of cheese items, Whey is also widely used to make Xanthan Gum today.
Initially the gum was discovered by the Department of Agriculture in United States and was approved as
one of the common food additives in 1968 by the FDA. A grain and plant product, it contains glucose as
well as sucrose. These are two types of sugars that the campestral bacteria can easily ferment.
Considering the importance of food grade Xanthan Gum it may be necessary having a little idea about its
uses.
1. In combination with water it forms an extremely viscous gel.
2. It is this viscosity that makes it very useful in improvement of appearance, texture, as well as the
stability of food products.
3. A common use of Xanthan Gum is as dressing for salad because it has low fat contents. Thus it
constitutes an excellent alternative for fat and oil.
4. Another use of the gum is in frozen desserts because it works well to prevent formation of large
ice crystals in the frozen food. The ultimate result is a soft and smooth mouth feel.
5. In foods like pudding, whipped cream, and yogurt it works to improve their bonding and thickness.
6. Xanthan Gum suppresses effects of spices as well as herbs that are ingredients of various
sauces. It also prevents various components in the sauces from separating during their storage.
7. In any food product it prevents the water from segregating and settling on top of the food product
that is solid or semi-solid.
With so many benefits for food producers and dealers it is natural that Xanthan Gum is in considerable
demands. Moreover, they are not only used in food components but also in other products such as
shampoos, soaps, as well as various types of beauty products.
That is why the product is available only commercially and the Xanthan Gum suppliers are making hay in
their business.