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This section provides an overview for glucomannan as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 5 glucomannan manufacturers and their company rankings. Here are the top-ranked glucomannan companies as of December, 2024: 1.Parchem, 2.Fengchen Group Co.,Ltd, 3.Qingdao Dacon Trading Co., Ltd.
Table of Contents
Glucomannan is an organic compound classified as a water-soluble neutral polysaccharide.
It is a polysaccharide composed of D-glucose and D-mannose in a 1:1.6 ratio of β-1,4 bonds, with one branch per 50~60 sugars. In the branches, β-1,6 bonds are formed.
The molecular weight of glucomannan is very large, exceeding 1 million in some cases. At room temperature, it is an odorless white powder. It is relatively stable and insensitive to salt, pH, and heat.
It is also known as konjac glucomannan because it is the main ingredient of konjac.
It is a type of soluble dietary fiber and is known for its ability to swell by water absorption and to gel when heated under alkaline conditions.
The main uses of glucomannan are as a gelling agent, thickening agent, and water retention agent in foods and beverages. As a general food and beverage additive (thickening stabilizer and manufacturing agent), it is approved for use as a food additive.
Since it expands by water absorption, it is often used in diet foods in recent years to make people feel full with a small amount of food. As an ingredient in cosmetics, glucomannan is sometimes used as a skin conditioning and protective agent.
Glucomannan has the property of absorbing water and swelling greatly. For example, it exhibits high viscosity of more than 30,000 mPa-s in a 1% solution.
It is used as a food additive, but has little taste or odor.
There are several types of glucomannan, including konjac mannan and wood glucomannan, but most commonly sold glucomannan is konjac mannan.
There are a variety of glucomannan powder products on the market, but most of them are made by extracting and refining glucomannan from konjac potatoes. The degree of refinement varies from product to product, so it is necessary to make a selection according to the intended use.
In addition, various forms of glucomannan, such as powders and gels, are sold, and products are offered to meet a wide range of needs.
When a coagulant (calcium hydroxide) is added to a solution of glucomannan and heated, a thermo-incompatible gel is formed.
The mechanism of this reaction is as follows. The same principle is used in the production of konjac in general.
Glucomannan interacts with carrageenan through hydrogen bonds to form cross-linked regions. In fact, it has been found that the gel strength increases synergistically when glucomannan is used in combination with xanthan gum + carrageenan gel.
In addition, what is sold as konjac jelly is a product that uses cross-linking by hydrogen bonding between glucomannan and carrageenan. Unlike the normal konjac manufacturing process described in the previous section (irreversible gelation of glucomannan under alkaline conditions), konjac jelly is dissolved in boiling water without using a coagulant, and then cooled and hardened.
It also differs from konjac in that it dissolves again upon reheating.
Glucomannan is a type of dietary fiber that is known to improve bowel movements. It cannot be digested by human digestive enzymes and is said to absorb water in the stomach, causing it to swell dozens of times. However, excessive intake may cause diarrhea or over-expansion in the gastrointestinal tract, which can be harmful, so care should be taken regarding intake.
Recently, it has also been reported that glucomannan helps lower LDL cholesterol and blood sugar levels, suggesting that glucomannan may be effective in improving these factors that cause lifestyle-related diseases.
*Including some distributors, etc.
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Parchem was founded in 1999 and headquartered in Rochelle, New York. Parchem is a distributor of industrial chemicals. Parchem serves nutritional, personal care, pharmaceutical, and specialty chemical industries. Parchem offerings include coatings, adhesives, elastomers, industrial products, petrochemicals, oleochemicals, plastics, rubber, nutritional supplements, cosmetics, consumer products, catalysts, metallic salts, rare earths, flavors & fragrances, industrial & institutional, textiles, other food-related chemicals, dyes, finishes, chemicals for aerospace, oil gas drilling chemicals, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.
Qingdao Dacon Trading Co., Ltd., established in 2003 and headquartered in Shandong, China, is a manufacturer of wheat/barley grass powder, royal jelly, and silica gel desiccant. The company offers a range of products, including herbs, royal jelly, bee propolis, organic wheat grass powder, barley leaf powder, and more. It also provides a stethoscope, umbilical cord clamp, wound plaster, benzoic acid, and more. Its royal jelly can improve fertility in both men and women, with potential effects on sperm quality in men and increased fertility in women. It serves various industries such as herbs and plant extracts, agriculture, and more.
Fengchen Group Co., LTD is based in Qingdao, China. The company is a manufacturer and supplier of speciality chemicals for several industries around the world including natural resources, hydrogeology, drilling, geophysics, and environmental & geotechnical services. The company’s chemical product categories include APIs, amino acids, micronutrients, package materials, and enzymes. The company also offers services including specialized transportation, samples of compounds, shipping documents needed for pharmaceutical products, and international customs support.
BASF Personal Care and Nutrition GmbH, headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, is a supplier of ingredients for the personal care industry. Its product range encompasses skincare, hair care, oral care, and sun care ingredients. The company provides comprehensive support for product development processes and offers formulations that showcase its ingredients for various applications. Among its offerings are emollients such as Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicones, and Mineral Oils. Its products have diverse applications, spanning from gentle creams and conditioning shampoos to cosmetics, detergents, and cleaning agents.
Ranking as of December 2024
Derivation Method| Rank | Company | Click Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parchem |
40.0%
|
| 2 | Fengchen Group Co.,Ltd |
30.0%
|
| 3 | Qingdao Dacon Trading Co., Ltd |
10.0%
|
| 4 | Baoji Konjac Chemcial Co.,Ltd |
10.0%
|
| 5 | BASF Personal Care and Nutrition GmbH |
10.0%
|
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the glucomannan page as of December 2024. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
Company with a History
*Including some distributors, etc.
*Including some distributors, etc.
| Country | Number of Companies | Share (%) |
|---|---|---|
|
United States of America
|
1 | 33.3% |
China
|
1 | 33.3% |
|
Germany
|
1 | 33.3% |
