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Cyanmopsis tetragonoloba,or guar, is a drought-resistant legume that was brought to the United States in the early 1900s. Guar prefers a hot, dry climate like that of west Texas, southwestern Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona. Guar is well-suited to these semiarid regions and thrives in areas receiving less than 30-inches annual rainfall. When there is a lack of moisture, guar will stop growing but it will not die. Guar is tolerant of soil salinity and alkalinity. It grows in many well-drained soils; the best in sandy loam
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Guar means "cow food" in Hindi, and in the Asian subcontinent,
this is its historical use. Guar is still used as cattle feed today and
in India, the green pods are picked young and used in cooking. (Guar protein
is not usable by humans unless toasted to destroy the trypsin inhibitor.)
Currently, the majority of the world's guar is grown in western India and
eastern Pakistan and harvested for the endosperm or gum. Guar is approximately
36% endosperm and 54% protein with the remainder as hull fiber. Every year,
the U.S. imports more than 100 million pounds of guar gum to be used primarily
as an additive to increase viscosity of a liquid, such as ice cream, cream
cheese, barbecue sauce, and orange juice.
One of guar's larger-volume uses is in the fracturing of oil and gas wells,
but guar gum is also used in textile manufacture, papermaking, and firefighting.
Guar is in shampoos, hand lotions, soaps, toys, and explosives. Fruit
drinks, bread, cereal, salad dressing, and pet food all contain guar.
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