Guar Bean

Guar, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, also called the cluster bean, is an annual legume in the bean family Fabaceae and the source of guar gum, its name rooted in Hindi. Its wild origin is unknown, since it has never been found growing wild, and it is believed to descend from the African species Cyamopsis senegalensis before being domesticated and cultivated across South Asia for centuries; India now produces about 80 percent of the world's guar, mainly in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kutch. The plant is drought tolerant and suits semiarid climates, and as a nitrogen-fixing legume it is valuable in crop rotation. Its most important use is the gelling agent guar gum extracted from its seeds, used in food production, industrial manufacturing, hydraulic fracturing and as the main ingredient of toy slime, while the plant itself also serves as cattle feed and a vegetable.