thickeners

Thickeners are substances added to liquids to increase viscosity, improve texture, and suspend particles. They are used in foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and industrial products to modify flow properties without altering flavor. In foods, thickeners help sauces cling to food, soups stay uniform, and desserts set.

Common natural thickeners include starches such as corn, potato, and tapioca starch; these typically require heating to gelatinize, swelling and thickening as granules absorb water. Gums and hydrocolloids such as xanthan gum, guar gum, locust bean gum, carrageenan, agar, pectin, and cellulose derivatives (carboxymethyl cellulose, methylcellulose) provide thickening at low concentrations and can form gels. Proteins like gelatin and gluten-containing ingredients also act as thickeners or gelling agents.

Mechanisms vary: starches form a gelatinized network when heated; gums and pectins entangle into a viscous or gel network; some thickeners produce shear-thinning rheology, which feels thinner when stirred but thick when at rest. Some require specific conditions (temperature, sugar, acid, or ions) to gel.

Applications and considerations: in foods, thickeners adjust mouthfeel and stability; in cosmetics, they provide body and spreadability; in medicines, they suspend active ingredients. Regulatory status varies by jurisdiction; many thickeners are GRAS in the United States and are labeled as ingredients such as xanthan gum or carrageenan. Consumers with sensitivities may react to gluten, corn, or certain gums. Over-thickening can lead to undesirable textures or syneresis.