Xanthan Gum is a microbial polysaccharide derived from the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris that is typically found in commercial salad dressings, ice creams and other suspensions or liquid products that require an emulsifier, but it can be bought for home use and is a great way to thicken and stabilize soymilk-based rice milk-based sauces, dairy-free soups and non-dairy ice creams. Produced primarily from cellulose from corn or cabbage, xanthan gum functions similarly to gelatin in recipes with regards to stabilizing suspensions, but it is completely vegan and great for cooking and baking for persons with food allergies and restrictions, especially for those who are omitting dairy, eggs and soy from their diet.
Xanthan gum is used as a thickener in sauces, as an agent in ice cream that prevents ice crystals from forming, and as a fat substitute that adds the "mouth feel" of fat without the calories. It is used in canned pet food to add "cling".In pastry fillings, it prevents "weeping" (syneresis) of the water in the filling, protecting the crispness of the crust.
It has a very high viscosity (thickness) even when very little is used.When mixed with guar gum or locust bean gum, the viscosity is more than when either one is used alone, so less of each can be used.
The backbone of Xanthan gum is similar to cellulose, but the trisacharide side chains of mannose and glucuronic acid make the molecule rigid, and allow it to form a right-handed helix. These features make it interact with itself and with other long chain molecules to form thick mixtures and gels in water.
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