Cereal Chem 59:402 - 404.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
A Gas Production Formula Containing Guar or Xanthan Gum in Place of Wheat Flour.

B. L. Bruinsma and K. F. Finney. Copyright 1982 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Guar gum (1 g) or xanthan gum (1 g) was a highly desirable replacement for 10 g of wheat flour in a gas- production formula that also included 0.8 g of sucrose, 0.15 g of NaCl, 0.53 g of compressed yeast, nutrients, and 15 ml of distilled water. Neither guar gum nor xanthan gum was enzymatically hydrolyzed into fermentable sugar. The 6% added sucrose in the wheat flour formula was increased to 8% in the guar or xanthan formula to compensate for the gas production contributed by wheat flour. Na2HPO4, NH4Cl, bacto-yeast nitrogen base, a nutrient solution, and (NH4)2HPO4 were used to determine the response of guar and xanthan gums to phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N). Guar responded to both P and N, whereas xanthan responded only to N. When guar gum was used in the gas production formula, a 1:1 ratio of P to N was desirable, and the amount was about 8 mg of each per test. A solution of (NH4)2HPO4 (37.7 mg per test) was highly desirable because it provided 8.0 mg of N and 8.8 mg of P and gave optimal gas production. The guar gum (1 g) was less expensive and more readily available and gave somewhat higher gas production than xanthan gum. The guar-containing formula is ideal in gas production studies when it is desirable to eliminate the wheat-flour variables or when the presence of flour components is undesirable.