475 DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE WELLBEING
The properties of tara mucilage are shown in Figure 24. Increasing the amount of tara
and using a hot hydration process can lead to high mucilage viscosity. Tara forms viscous
solutions through random coil hyperentanglement where the random coils can interact with
each other via inter- and intramolecular associations of polymer coils through H-bonding
interactions of the mannose units.26 Although c* (critical entanglement concentration)
is formulation-dependent, increasing the concentration of tara above c* leads to a rapid
Figure 22. (A) Viscosity and (B) yield value properties within a sulfated chassis: 11.2 wt% sodium laureth
sulfate, 2.3 wt% cocamidopropyl betaine at pH 6.5. *Brookfield® (Brookfield Engineering Laboratories, Inc.,
Middleboro, MA, USA) viscosity at 20 rpm (mPa·s).

476 JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE
increase in mucilage viscosity. Hydrating the gum at a high temperature increases its
solubility and reduces the hydration time, which also leads to higher viscosity mucilage.
Because of its viscosity and nonionic characteristics, tara can be used as a rheology modifier
in conditioners with 0.3 wt% to 0.9 wt% of tara in a simple chassis as shown in Figure 25.
The results show an increase in viscosity and yield value with an increasing amount of
tara. The yield value provides an indication of the microstructure of the formula (lamellar
gel network),27 and the higher yield value typically results in a more stable system. The
stabilization of the lamellar structure of the emulsion formula was observed under a
microscope with polarized light when including tara was also demonstrated in internal
Figure 23. Viscosity, yield value, and turbidity within a sulfate-free chassis: 6.0 wt% alpha olefin sulfonate,
4.0 wt% cocamidopropyl betaine at pH 6.5. *Brookfield® (Brookfield Engineering Laboratories, Inc.,
Middleboro, MA, USA) viscosity at 20 rpm (mPa·s).
Figure 24. Effect of tara concentration and hydration temperature on mucilage viscosity.