Source: Magness et al. 1971
Guar is a branched annual legume, native to India and Pakistan, now grown on more than 100,000 acres in this country, mainly in West Texas and Oklahoma. It is an excellent soil improvement crop, but is produced mainly for the seeds or "beans" which are enclosed in pods until harvested by combine threshers. The seeds contain a mannogalactan gum which is extracted and widely used as a stabilizer and smoother in ice cream and other frozen desserts. It also has industrial uses, as in paper manufacture and color printing on fabrics. The meal following gum extraction is excellent high-protein feed. For hay or forage, guar appears inferior to many other legumes, but the straw and stubble following combining furnish acceptable livetsock pasturage.