Tamarind Seed Extract

Tamarindus indica L. (Fabaceae, subfamily Detarioideae) is grown across India for its pulp, and the seed has long been the by-product rather than the prize. It is the seed, not the pulp, that this record covers, and the seed is anatomically two materials. The kernel or endosperm accounts for 70-75% of seed weight and is the polysaccharide store: kernel analyses report 51.0% polysaccharide, 7.6% oil and 7.6% protein as received, moving to 55.0% polysaccharide and 19.0% protein once de-oiled down to 0.6% oil. Whole seed carries 26.9 g protein and 10.9 g oil per 100 g. The thin dark testa around it is the phenolic fraction and is chemically unrelated in use: the seed testa contains 23% tannin, and the seed procyanidins run mainly to oligomers — tetramer, hexamer and pentamer — with smaller amounts of procyanidin B2 and epicatechin. Because those two fractions serve different buyers, 'tamarind seed extract' is really two articles and an enquiry should say which. The polyphenol grade is an aqueous or hydro-alcoholic extract of seed with the testa retained or deliberately enriched, assayed on total polyphenols and on procyanidins, and sold by the kilogram into capsule, tablet and sachet formats. The polysaccharide grade is tamarind seed polysaccharide, a xyloglucan built on a beta-1,4-linked glucose backbone with 1,6-linked xylose side chains, many of them capped with galactose; a characterised sample gave a glucose:xylose:galactose molar ratio of 2.9:1.8:1.0. The same sample was reported at roughly 1735 kDa with 86.2% neutral sugar, 5.4% uronic acid, 1.3% protein, 6.1% moisture and 0.3% ash, at a 54.6% w/w yield from seed. That molecular weight is the whole point: it is what delivers cold-water viscosity build, film formation and mucoadhesion, which are the food-technology functions the hydrocolloid grade is bought for, and it is why the purified grade commands a different price and a different specification sheet from the polyphenol grade. Tamarind is a legume. It is not one of the regulated legume allergens — peanut and soybean are the two that carry statutory declaration in most markets — but Fabaceae seed material is worth stating plainly on your specification for customers running legume-avoidant lines, rather than leaving it to inference. The material is free from milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten, peanut and tree nut, and is vegan and vegetarian with no animal-derived processing aids. Regulatory status of the purified polysaccharide as a food additive is not uniform across markets, so confirm the additive or novel-food position for your destination before you build a launch around it. Thovek describes composition and food-technology function only. Brands do position tamarind seed material in joint-category and eye-comfort-category products; any claim on a finished product is the brand owner's to substantiate. This record specifies a generic tamarind seed extract on its own chemistry and is not offered as an equivalent to, or a substitute for, any branded tamarind seed ingredient.