| Xanthan gum is a natural gum polysaccharide used as a food additive and rheology modifier. It is produced by a biotechnological process involving fermentation of glucose or sucrose by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium. It was discovered by an extensive research effort by the United States Department of Agriculture, which involved the screening of a large number of biopolymers for their potential uses.
One of the most remarkable properties of xanthan gum is its capability of producing a large increase in the viscosity of a liquid by adding a very small quantity of gum of the order of one percent. Unlike other gums it is very stable under a wide range of temperatures and pH, and is accepted as a safe food additive in USA and Europe, with E number E415.
Xanthan gum, along with guar gum, is sometimes used as a substitute for gluten in baked goods. In the oil industry xanthan gum is used in large quantities. It is used to increase the viscosity of the water pumped into wells for purposes of enhanced oil recovery. |
| Xylitol, also called wood sugar or birch sugar, is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that is used as a sugar substitute. It can be extracted from birch, raspberries, plums, and corn, which is primarily imported from China and is the most popular source due to its potential renewability, unlike birch trees. |
