Importance of Cassia Gum Powder in Making Nutraceuticals

Cassia Gum Powder is made from Cassia Seeds. These seeds are extracted from a wild crop, Caesalpiniaceous that grows in several parts of India as a weed. This is a natural gelling agent and has innumerable industrial and food applications. It usually grows in the wet and tropical climate.

The article goes on to explain what are Nutraceuticals, the importance of Cassia Powder in the making of them and its many applications.

What are Nutraceuticals?

The best way to define Nutraceuticals is as a “Medical Food”. It is food that also has health benefits and helps in the prevention and cure of diseases. It is a broader term that describes just about any product that is derived from a food source and that also has some level of medical or health benefits in addition to a nutritional value. In fact, the word “nutraceutical” is a combination of two different words like ‘nutrient’ and ‘pharmaceutical’.

They can be classified into the several categories like:

Dietary supplements: Dietary supplements are also food products which contain nutrients and are also regulated by the FDA. Although they are classified as food, the FDA regulation that governs is different from other drugs and food products. They can be a liquid, capsule, pill or powder form.

Functional: Functional food includes food like whole foods, fortified, enriched or enhanced dietary components. They help reduce the risk of chronic disease and provide a health-benefit too.

Pharmaceuticals: This is a combination of the word ‘farm’ and ‘pharmaceuticals’ and is essentially components that have medicinal value and produced from agricultural crops or animals.

Medicinal food: Medical Food is that which can either be consumed or administered internally. It is usually taken with the supervision of a qualified physician. It is useful for dietary management of a disease or medical condition.

Application of Cassia Gum Powder in Nutraceuticals There is an increasing use of Cassia Powder in food products, as flavors and also in cosmetics and healthcare industry. There is a rise in demand of Cassia Gum in several Asia Pacific countries and Europe as well. Cassia Gum Powder has several properties that make it invaluable for use with food that has medicinal value and health benefits. Here are some of the important and relevant properties of Cassia:

Anti-fungal
Moisture retention
Good conditioner
Anti-bacterial
It does not contain chemicals or preservatives.
Has a presence of anti-oxidant nutrients.
Acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer.
It is anti-diabetic and antimicrobial too.
Useful in development of cosmetics and herbal medicine.

Benefits of Nutraceuticals and its Rising Demand Nutraceuticals have nutritional value and a therapeutic effect. They can help with cell proliferation, gene expression. It is safe to say they help improve our health and prevent chronic diseases, slows aging process too. They help with prevention of several life threatening diseases like diabetes, renal and gastrointestinal disorders. It can help with several common issues like allergies, cardiovascular diseases, eye conditions, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease as well as obesity. Here are a few statistics that describe importance of Nutraceuticals:

The global Nutraceutical market is estimated at 117 billion USD.
Growth from 1999 to 2002 was at a rate of 7.3%
The growth in the period after 2000 has been as high as 14.7%
The US, European and Indian markets are the largest Nutraceutical markets.
China is expected to surpass all to become the largest market in the next 10 years.

There was an explosive growth of the Nutraceuticals industry from 1999 to 2002. There is an increasing demand since then as more people are looking for healthy lifestyles to obtain good nutrition and keep diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity at bay.