Natural Source

▪
Cereals Starch:
Maize:
Source: Maize Starch is the starch derived from corn grain.
Structure:

Properties:
▪
It is very yield potential and is commonly known as ‘Queen of
Cereals’
▪
It has significant quantities of vitamin A, vitamin E, nicotinic acid etc.
▪
Good water absorption index

Production:
The corn is steeped for 30 to 48 hours, which ferments it slightly. The germ is
separated from the endosperm and those two components are ground
separately. Next the starch is removed from each by washing. The starch is
separated from the corn steep liquor, the cereal germ, the fibers and the corn
gluten mostly in hydrocyclones and centrifuges, and then dried.
This process is called wet milling. Finally, the starch may be modified for
specific purposes.
Application: Corn starch is used as a thickening agent in liquid-based
foods, usually by mixing it with a lower-temperature liquid to form a paste or
slurry. It is sometimes preferred over flour alone because it forms a
translucent, rather than opaque mixture. As the starch is heated, the
molecular chains unravel, allowing them to collide with other starch chains
to form a mesh, thickening the liquid. It is usually included as an anticaking
agent in powdered sugar.

Wheat:
Source: Wheat comes from a type of grass (Triticum) that is grown in
countless varieties worldwide.
Structure:

Property:
 • It provides heat energy.
• It has many medical virtues.
• It contains various types of vitamins.
Production:
1. Firstly the golden grain has to be converted into grain flour by
grinding process.
2. Then from grain flours milled grains are made.
3. The flour is mixed with water and other ingredients and then the
temperature is turned up.
4. After this, the water has to be extracted and the wheat grains has to
be dried for quality time.
Application:
▪
It is used to make wide range of foods including bread.
▪
Wheat also forms the base for the extremely popular alcoholic drinks.
▪
Wheat is used to make bioethanol in the U.K & US.
▪
It is used as a thickener in food industry and textile industry.

▪
Plant Exudates:

Gum Tragacanth:
Source: Tragacanth is dried gummy exudation obtained from the stem of
Astragalus gummifer Labill. It belongs to “Leguminosae” family. The plant is
widely distributed in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Anatolia and India.
Structure:
 Gum Tragacanth

Characteristics:
• Form-flattened, lamellate, tough ribbon shaped pieces of horny
structures, more or less curved or contorted
• Color-white or faint yellow
• Size-about 2.5 cm length
• Facture-Short
• Taste- Insipid and mucilaginous

Preparation: Tragacanth plant is a small, branching, thorny shrub about 1

meter in height. Incisions are made on the stems of two year old plant; gum
exudes and dried. The shape of gum may be flat, ribbon like or vermiform
depending upon the type of incisions. Gum is produced by the
transformation of medullary rays and cell wall of pith and process is called
gummosis. The gum is collected every week and new incisions are made.
These gums are collected and packed.

Application:
• It is used as a demulcent.
• Suspending agent.
• Emulsifying agent.
• Binding agent.
• In textile industry.

Gum Arabic:
Source: It consists of the dried gummy exudation obtained from the stem
and branches of Acacia arabica Wild. It is from the family called
‘Leguminosae’. It is found in Sudan, India, Morocco, Sri Lanka and Africa.
Structure:
Characteristics:
• Form: Rounded ovoid tears.
• Color: Colorless to slight yellowish tint.
• Fracture surface: Glossy.
• Taste: Bland and mucilaginous.
• Size: Variable.

Preparation:
• Crush the gum arabic and put it into a basin.
• Pour boiling water and stir, till it dissolves.
• Strain through a muslin cloth in a jug, and then bottle it.
• Put formalin in it to prevent from going bad.
• For use, put 4 teaspoonful’s of gum arabic to 1/2 pint of water.

Application:
• Demulcent.
• Emulsifying agent.
• Suspending agent.
• Used in information of intestinal mucosa.
• Used to cover inflamed surface such as burns, sore nipples, etc.
• Used in the manufacture of adhesive and ink.
Gum Karaya:
Source: Gum karaya or gum sterculia, also known as Indian gum
tragacanth, is a vegetable gum produced as an exudate by trees of the
genus Sterculia. Chemically, gum karaya is an acid polysaccharide
composed of the sugars galactose, rhamnose and galacturonic acid.

Structure:

Gum Karaya

Properties:
• Moisture Content (%wb):17.47±0.44
• Tapped density (g/ml) 0.90±0.04
• True density (g/ml) 1.50±0.17
• Porosity (%) 46.76±6.12
 • Angle of repose (°) 47.27±2.91
• Coefficient of friction (N) Glass 0.24±0.03
• Plywood 0.28±0.01

Preparation:
Gum karaya can be obtained from the tree Sterculia urens. It is a valuable
substance and is traditionally tapped by cutting or peeling back the bark, or by
making deep gashes at the base of the trunk with an axe. These crude
methods of extraction often resulted in the death of the tree, but it has been
found that application of the plant growth regulator ethephon stimulates the
production of gum, and when used in carefully controlled amounts, increases
gum yield and enhances healing of the wounds and survival of the tree.

Application:
Karaya gum is used in cosmetics and food as well as in pharmaceuticals as
a laxative and adhesive. Extracts of the seeds and bark of related Sterculia
species have been investigated for hypocholesterolemic and anti-
inflammatory effects in animals. Karaya gum has also been used as an
adhesive for dental fixtures. A protective coating of karaya gum applied to
dentures has been shown to reduce bacterial adhesion by 98%.
 ▪
Roots and Seeds:

Guar Gum:
Source: Guar gum obtained from the refined endosperm of the seeds of
Cyamopsis tetragonolobus L. Taub. Family: Leguminosae. It is
commercially grow in India, Pakistan, and U.S.A. and to limited extent in
South Africa, Brazil and Australia. In India, Rajasthan is the major Guar
Gum produced area.
Structure:

Guar Gum

Properties:
• Color white or yellowish white free flowing powder.
• Taste Characteristic.
• It is soluble in both cold and hot water & forms neutral colloidal solution.
• Guar Gum is insoluble in alcohol, oil hydrocarbon, ketone etc. Guar
gum contains much thickening than that of starch.
• Carbohydrate
Preparation:
• Measure the guar (42.7 g) into the small mixing cup.
• Make a slurry of the guar by stirring in just enough alcohol to make a
thin lump-free paste that's easily poured.
• Fill the large bowl with a gallon of 180 F (82 C) water.
• Stir the slurry once again, then beat the hot water with the whisk
while gradually but continually pouring all of the slurry into the bowl.
• Continue beating for about a minute. Afterward, there will still be
some clumps of guar in the mix.
• Optional: Measure and note the weight of the mix and its container.
• As the mix cools, it will thicken and a skin will form. Every 5 minutes,
beat this skin and all areas of the mix together to an even consistency.
After the second whisking, avoid scraping clumps off the sides of the
bowl. Let them remain stuck or scrape them out with a spoon.
• The skin formation will become much less pronounced when the mix
cools to about 125 F (52 C). Typically, all the clumps will have
dissolved by this time. It usually takes at least 30 minutes, but
depends very much on your mixing container.
• Continue stirring every 10 or 15 minutes as needed to remove
remaining clumps, incorporate any skin, and allow the mix to cool to a
comfortable temperature for storage and refrigeration.
• Optional: Measure and note the weight of the mix and its container,
and calculate the difference from before, which represents the alcohol
and water lost to evaporation. Replace this lost amount with warm
water, beating it into the mix.
• Bottle it. Avoid scraping any hardened clumps from the sides of the
bowl as you pour out the mix. If it's too thick to pour, gradually beat in
warm water until it's manageable.
• Refrigerate.
Application:
• Protective colloids.
• In bulk laxatives.
• As appetite depressant.
• It is used in peptic ulcer therapy.
• It is a good emulsion stabilizer.

Locust Bean Gum:

Source:
Locust bean gum is a galactomannan vegetable gum extracted from the
seeds of the carob tree and used as a thickening agent. It is extracted from
the seeds of the carob tree, which is native to the Mediterranean region and
nearly 75% were produced by Portugal, Italy, Spain and Morocco in 2016.
Structure:

Locust Bean Gum

Properties:
• Locust bean gum is less soluble and lower viscosity than guar gum
as it has fewer galactose branch points.
• Locust Bean Gum is incompletely soluble in cold water, and must be
heated for maximum solubility.
• The highest viscosity is obtained by dispersing the gum into 95°
Celsius water and then cooling.
Preparation:
The seeds contained within the long pods that grow on the tree are used to
make this gum. First, the pods are kibbled to separate the seed from the
pulp. Then, the seeds have their skins removed by an acid treatment; the
deskinned seed is then split and gently milled. This causes the brittle germ
to break up while not affecting the more robust endosperm. The two are
separated by sieving. The separated endosperm can then be milled by a
roller operation to produce the final locust bean gum powder.
Application:
Locust bean gum is used as a thickening agent and gelling agent in many
food applications such as fresh dairy, frozen dairy, condiments and
processed fruit & vegetables. Locust bean gum has a neutral taste,
consumer preferred texture, and can improve viscosity. LBG is used in ice
cream to improve texture and reduce ice cream meltdown.

▪
Sea Weeds:

Sodium Alginate:
Source: Alginates are refined from brown seaweeds. Throughout the world,
many of the Phaeophyceae class brown seaweeds are harvested to be
processed and converted into sodium alginate. Sodium alginate is used in
many industries including food, animal food, fertilizers, textile printing, and
pharmaceuticals. Dental impression material uses alginate as its means of
gelling.
Structure:

Sodium Alginate
Alginic acid is a linear copolymer with homopolymeric blocks of (1-4)-linked
β-D-mannuronate (M) and its C-5 epimer α-L-guluronate (G) residues,
respectively, covalently linked together in different sequences or blocks.
The monomers may appear in homopolymeric blocks of consecutive G-
residues (G-blocks), consecutive M-residues (M-blocks) or alternating M
and G-residues (MG-blocks).
Properties:
Chemical (C6H8O6)n
formula

Molar mass 10,000 – 600,000

Appearance white to yellow, fibrous

powder

Density 1.601 g/cm3

Acidity (pKa) 1.5–3.5

Preparation:
The manufacturing process used to extract sodium alginates from brown
seaweed fall into two categories: 1) Calcium alginate method and, 2)
Alginic acid method. Chemically the process is simple, but difficulties arise
from the physical separations required between the slimy residues from
viscous solutions and the separation of gelatinous precipitates that hold
large amounts of liquid within the structure so they resist filtration and
centrifugation.
Application:
Alginate absorbs water quickly, which makes it useful as an additive in
dehydrated products such as slimming aids, and in the manufacture of
paper and textiles. It also is used for waterproofing and fireproofing fabrics,
in the food industry as a thickening agent for drinks, ice cream, cosmetics,
and as a gelling agent for jellies.

Sodium alginate is used in reactive dye printing and as a thickener for

reactive dyes in textile screen-printing. Alginates do not react with these
dyes and wash out easily, unlike starch-based thickeners.

Modified Natural Source

▪
Starch Derivatives:

British Gum:
Source: An alternative approach to improving the properties of starch has
been to bring about structural changes by simple roasting processes. The
original British gums were produced from batches of dry starch.
Structure:

Characteristics:
Trademark Name BRITISH GUM

Appearance Dark Yellow or

Brown Powder
Moisture 15% (max)

pH (10% Aqueous 3-5

Solution)
Soluble 80% (min)

Mesh Size-pass 95% (min)

through 85Mesh

Production:
The original British gums were produced by heating batches of dry starch
at 135-190°C, with stirring to achieve uniform roasting, for 10-24 hour. The
process can be accelerated by addition of trace quantities of acid, and can
then be carried out continuously on a conveyor belt. The use of more than
trace quantities of acid leads to more hydrolysis and the formation of the so
called dextrin, which are of low r.m.m and can be used as adhesives.
Application:
• Acts as excellent binding agent for pigment printing.
• Excellent thickening agent, ideal for textile printing
• Can be used satisfactorily for spun yarn sizing
• Easier to remove by regular washing
• Does not adversely affect feel of finished product
• Ideal for alkaline printing paste

Carboxy methyl starch:

Source: Carboxy methyl starch (CMS) is a cold water-soluble starch
derivative having wide applications in the fields of pharmaceutical, textile,
paper making, adhesive and absorbent [1-3]. It is prepared by reacting
starch with monochloroacetic acid or its sodium salt (SMCA) aftr activation
of polymer with NaOH.
Structure:
Characteristics:
Parameters Results

Moisture 8.80-9.20

Ash 1.26-1.31

Protein 9.45-10.13

Starch 72.50-73.44

Soluble sugars 3.10-3.36

Crude fiber 2.70-2.37

Crude fat 3.60-4.03

Production:
This carboxymethylation reaction processds in two steps. The first step is
an equilibrium reaction between NaOH and the hydroxyl groups of starch
(ROH):
ROH + NaOH = RONa + H2O _____ (1)
The second step is the actual formation of the carboxymethyl group by the
substitution of SMCA:
RONa + ClCH2COONa → ROCH2COONa + NaCl _____ (2)
SMCA can also react with NaOH to form the side product sodium glycolate:
NaOH + ClCH2COONa → HOCH2COONa + NaCl _____ (3)
Application:
• Used as warp size
• Used as printing thickener
• Because of its high build and cohesiveness, it can be used as binding
element and propping agent
 ▪
Cellulose Derivatives:
Carboxymethyl cellulose:
Source: Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) or cellulose gum is a cellulose
derivative with carboxymethyl groups (-CH2-COOH) bound to some of the
hydroxyl groups of the glucopyranose monomers that make up the
cellulose backbone.
Structure:

Properties:
 ▪
Physiologically inert
▪
White to slightly yellowish powders or granulates.
▪
Microbe-free
▪
Completely soluble
Production:
It is synthesized by the alkali-catalyzed reaction of cellulose with
chloroacetic acid. The polar carboxyl groups render the cellulose soluble
and chemically reactive.

Following the initial reaction, the resultant mixture produces about 60%
CMC plus 40% salts. This product is the so-called technical CMC which is
used in detergents. A further purification process is used to remove these
salts to produce the pure CMC used for food, pharmaceutical, and
dentifrice applications. An intermediate "semipurified" grade is also
produced, typically used in paper applications such as restoration of
archival documents.

The functional properties of CMC depend on the degree of substitution of

the cellulose structure, as well as the chain length of the cellulose
backbone structure and the degree of clustering of the carboxymethyl
substituents.
Application:
• Stabilizing

• Thickening
• Emulsifying
• Binding
• Absorb or retain water
Hydroxyethyl cellulose:
Source: Hydroxyethyl cellulose is a natural gum derived from pine and
spruce tree trunks grown and harvested from plantations in the United
States, France, Norway, and Canada.
Structure:

Properties:
• It is soluble in hot or cold water, does not precipitate by heat or
boiling, and enables it to have a wide range of solubility and viscosity
characteristics, as well as non-thermal gelation.
• Its water retention capacity is twice as that of methyl cellulose, and it
has better flow-regulating property.
• It is non-ionic itself and can coexist with a wide range of other water-
soluble polymers, surfactants, and salts, a fine colloidal thickener for
the solution containing a high concentration of electrolytes.

Production:
Immerse the cotton linter or refined cotton pulp in 30% lye. Remove after
pressing. Followed by pulverization, followed by reaction with pre-cooled
ethylene oxide to produce crude hydroxyethyl cellulose. Then washed with
alcohol and acetic acid and washed and neutralized. Then add glyoxal cross-
linked aging, fast washing with water. Finally by centrifugal dehydration,
drying, milling the final product can be obtained. Hydroxyehtyl cellulose also
can be produced by Gas Phase method and Water Phase method.
Application:
Hydroethyl cellulose is used extensively in the oil, gas and textile industry
as a drilling mud additive under the name HEC as well in industrial
applications, paint=t and coatings, ceramics, adhesives, emulsion
polymerization, inks, construction, welding rods etc.

▪
Gum Derivatives:
Meypro Gum:
Source:
Meypro gum is a brand of guar gum, made from guar beans. Like all the of
the different dye thickeners, guar gum is a polysaccharide, a lone chain of
sugars, in this case including galactose and mannose.
Structure:

Application:
• It is used for thickening acid dyes.
• It is used for thickening the caustic paste used to burn out devore
patterns on mixed fibre fabrics.
 • It is not used for reactive dyes because it reacts with those dyes.

Indalca Gum:
Source:
Indalca gum is a modified locust bean gum. It is resistant to acids and alkalis.
It has enormous binding as well as good emulsifying properties.
Properties:
Appearance Yellowish powder

Ionic nature Anionic

pH (solution) Alkaline

Solubility Cold water soluble

Stock thickener 13-14%

conc.
Stability to heavy Unstable
metals

Production:
The paste is prepared by adding the powder in cold water with high speed
stirring and is allowed to stay overnight. And then after it has been strained,
it is ready for using.
Application:
1. It is suitable for table, flat and rotary screen printing of:
• Alkaline discharge printing on polyester.
• Disperse dyes on acetate, triacetate and polyester.
2. It is used in combination with other suitable thickeners for direct and
discharge vat dyes.
3. It is used in burn out printing on natural fabrics with Caustic Soda.
 Synthetic Source
Acrylic:
Source:
Acrylic thickeners are generally high molecular weight copolymers of (meth)
acrylic acid and its ester. The acid comonomer is responsible for the
thickening and development of viscosity on partial neutralization with a base.
Properties:

Type Characteristics

Powder type Highly thickening, highly spunable

Water soluble type Thickening, Water holding

Emulsion Type
Thickening, water holding, temporal stability
(Alkali thickeners)

Production:
The production process of water soluble acrylic thickener in non-dusting
form is reported treated by 20% of 0-.5-5 % of the aqueous solution of film
forming acrylic polymers in cyclohexane. The treatment swells and
aggregates the thickener particles.
Application:
It is used on:
• Latex
• Paints
• Cosmetics
Polyacrylic Acid:
Source:
Polyacrylic acid is a synthetic high-molecular weight polymer of acrylic acid.
They may be homopolymers of acrylic acid or cross-linked with alkyl ether
of pentaerythritol, alkyl ether of sucrose, or alkyl ether of propylene.
Structure:

Properties:
• Molecular structure: (C3H4O2) n
• In a water solution at neutral pH, PAA is an anionic polymer.
• It has the ability to absorb and retain water and swell to many
times their original volume.
Production:
The acrylic acid production process includes the steps of catalytically
oxidizing propylene and propane in a gaseous phase to generate reaction
product, absorbing the reaction product in a solvent, and purifying acrylic
acid from an acrylic acid aqueous solution containing the solvent by
purification. The polyacrylic acid production process includes the step of
utilizing heat medium recovered in the acrylic acid production process to
purify polyacrylic acid from the acrylic acid aqueous solution or from acrylic
acid.
Application:
It is used in:
• Disposable diapers
• Ion exchanges resins
• Adhesives
• Detergents

Polyacrylic Acid:
Source:
It is a polymer (-CH2CHCONH2-) formed from acrylamide subunits. It can
be synthesized as a simple linear-chain structure or cross-linked, typically
using N, N’-methylenebisacrylamide.
Structure:

Properties:
Linear polyacrylamide is a water-soluble polymer. It is typically non-ionic
polymer but due to hydrolysis of some amide groups they could convert
into carboxylic groups giving polyacrylamide some weak anionic properties.
Application:
The majority of acrylamide is used to manufacture various polymers. In the
1970s and 1980s, the proportionately largest use of these polymers was in
water treatment. Additional uses include as binding, thickening or
flocculating agents in grout, cement, sewage/wastewater treatment,
pesticide formulations, cosmetics, sugar manufacturing, soil erosion
prevention, ore processing, food packaging, plastic products, and paper
production.

Polyvinyl Alcohol:
Source:
It has the idealized formula [CH2CH(OH)]n. It is used in papermaking,
textile warp sizing, as a thickener and emulsion stabilizer in PVAc adhesive
formulations and a variety of coatings.
Structure:

Properties:
• Water soluble synthetic polymer.
• Colorless
• Odorless
• It is commonly supplied as beads or as solutions in water.
Production:
Unlike most vinyl polymers, PVA is not prepared by polymerization of the
corresponding monomer as the monomer, vinyl alcohol, is
thermodynamically unstable with respect to its tautomer acetaldehyde.
Instead, PVA is prepared by hydrolysis of polyvinyl acetate, or sometimes
other vinyl ester-derived polymers with formate or chloroacetate groups
instead of acetate. The conversion of the polyvinyl esters is usually
conducted by base-catalysed transesterification with ethanol:
[CH2CH(OAc)]n + C2H5OH → [CH2CH(OH)]n + C2H5OAc
The properties of the polymer are affected by the degree of trans
esterification.

Worldwide consumption of polyvinyl alcohol was over one million metric

tons in 2006. Large producers include Kuraray and Sekisui Specialty
Chemicals, while mainland China has installed a number of very large
production facilities in the past decade and currently accounts for 45% of
world capacity.
Application:
PVA is used in a variety of medical applications because of its
biocompatibility, low tendency for protein adhesion, and low toxicity. Specific
uses include cartilage replacements, contact lenses, and eye drops.

Emulsion Source
Oil in water:
Source:
Emulsions in textile printing are classed as oil‐in‐water dispersions,
whereby the ‘oil’ is white spirit and is called the dispersed phase and is
typically 60% of the dispersion. The water is termed the continuous phase
and accounts typically for 40% of the dispersion.
Properties:
The viscosity of the dispersion is governed by the ratio of white spirit to
water. Increasing the amount of oil increases the viscosity of the
dispersion. The viscosity will also depend upon the size of the dispersed
droplets – the smaller these are, the higher the viscosity of the dispersion.
Production: A water solution with surfactant concentration above 0.01%
CMC should be prepared.
Then the solution of surfactant should be mixed with the oil at a speed
above 300 rpm, almost TIMER to prevent the formation of foam. The
stability of the emulsion depends primarily on: the concentration of
surfactant and type of mixing.
Application:
Used in moisturizing products and food products such as milk, mayonnaise
and vinaigrette, o/w emulsions contain a low oil concentration. They are
mixable with water, non-greasy, non-occlusive and will absorb water. The
dispersion medium in these emulsions is water; o/w emulsifiers keep oil
drops packed in water.

Water in oil:

Source:
In 1937 it was shown that w/o emulsions could be used to thicken pigment
printing pastes.
Production:
By using emulsions of water in white spirit, only the emulsifier remained
when the thickener film was dried. Suitable polymer binders were
incorporated as pigment binders and the fabric stiffening could be
minimized by selecting a polymer forming a soft film and by restricting the
penetration of paste so as not to stick the yarns together.
Application:
These emulsions are utilized in products including butter, margarine, cold
cream and cod liver oil and are especially useful in products designed for dry
or sensitive skin. Common w/o emulsifiers are sorbitan stearate, polyglyceryl
oleate, lecithin, sorbitan monooleate and lanolin. Sometimes referred to as
an inverse emulsion, w/o emulsions mix more easily with oils and have a
high oil concentration.