Creature Companion - Interzoo Special September 2019 | Page 40

Pet Nutrition
Seed gums in petfood
Dr A C Beynen
was professor of
veterinary nutrition
at the Faculty
of Veterinary
Medicine, Utrecht
University, Th e
Netherlands in the
period of 1993-2007.
Gums derived from guar, carob, cassia or tara seeds may
be found in wet dog and cat food. Those gums furnish
galactomannans, carbohydrates composed of chains of
mannose units with galactose side groups. The ratio of the
two building blocks, which are akin to glucose, is variable.
Galactomannans in processed wet, human or pet foods
act as thickeners for optimum fl uid stickiness and particle
distribution. Some dog treats and dry foods contain whole
carob seed, also known as locust bean and Saint John’s bread,
or galactomannan-rich, fenugreek seed.
The inclusion levels of single or mixed seed gums in wet
petfood range from 0.01 to 0.5%. Adding 0.5% guar gum,
as sole thickener, reduces net intestinal uptake of protein in
dogs and cats. The indigestible, gel-forming gum interferes
with protein digestion. Then, upon reaching the hindgut,
guar gum stimulates growth of resident bacteria and water
holding, thereby increasing fecal excretion of bacterial protein
and water. Mixing 0.5% guar gum into commercial wet food
slightly softens and enlarges stool, but does not jeopardize
protein supply or intestinal health.
A brand of cat food purports that its guar gum constituent
reduces blood cholesterol and glucose, and also effectively
achieves satiety (1). The gum can lower dogs’ blood
cholesterol, but there is no known health benefi t (2). In dogs,
blood glucose after eating was inconsistently infl uenced
by dietary guar gum. In the research literature there is no
support for the satiety claim.
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A few petfoods make a “no guar gum” claim. That implies
the gum is bad (3). Guar gum is belittled by stating that it is
highly processed, has no nutritional value (4), causes loose
stools and impairs protein digestion (5). Only the latter point
is valid, but it has no adverse effects at the protein and guar-
gum levels in commercial, wet petfoods.
Creature Companion | September 2019 • Vol. XII • Issue 9 • Noida