Tara gum is obtained from a leguminous plant Caesalpinia spinosa and is also called Quechua in Peru, where there are the most extensive and important crops.

It appears as a white odorless powder and is used in the automotive, furnishing, nautical and food industries.

What it is used for and where

Food

It is labeled with the number E417 in the list of European food additives and serves as a stabilizer (1)

Medical

Some recent studies have associated it with other specific components to study their capacity to improve the intestinal barrier (2).

Cosmetics

In cosmetic products containing many ingredients, it is used as a thickener and binder.

Skin conditioning agent - Miscellaneous.  Ingredient that has the task of modifying the condition of the skin when it is damaged or dry by reducing its flakiness and restoring its elasticity.

Viscosity Enhancing Agent - aqueous. Since viscosity is important for increasing the chemical and physical stability of the product, Viscosity Enhancing Agent acqueous is an important dosage factor in gels, suspensions, emulsions, solutions. Increasing viscosity makes formulations less sedimentary and more homogeneously thickened.

CAS  39300-88-4

References________________________________________________________________________

(1) The rheological properties of tara gum (Caesalpinia spinosa). Wu Y, Ding W, Jia L, He Q.  Food Chem. 2015 Feb 1;168:366-71. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.07.083. 

(2) Assessment of the capability of a gelling complex made of tara gum and the exopolysaccharides produced by the microorganism Streptococcus thermophilus ST10 to prospectively restore the gut physiological barrier: a pilot study.  Del Piano M, Balzarini M, Carmagnola S, Pagliarulo M, Tari R, Nicola S, Deidda F, Pane M.J Clin Gastroenterol. 2014 Nov-Dec;48 Suppl 1:S56-61. doi: 10.1097/MCG.0000000000000254.