Guar (Cyamopsis Tetragonoloba), a summer annual legume, native to the Indo-Pak subcontinent.
In Pakistan, Guar is grown mainly on arid, sandy areas in the provinces of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan.
Guar was traditionally grown as forage for cattle, as a green manure crop and as a vegetable for human consumption.
In the late forties, it was determined that in addition to its soil-building properties, Guar produces seeds that contain a galactomannan gum for which a multitude of food and non-food applications have been developed.
As a result, today, the primary importance of Guar lies in the commercial value of its seed.
Guar gum is classified chemically as a galactomannan. It has unique properties with many diversified uses such as: