The term "industrial gums" is a generic name for a range of products that are either manufactured artificially or extracted from animals or plants and used to achieve various levels of viscosity. These include polyethyleneglycolate, guar gum, xanthan gum, carboxymethylcellulose, and gelatine. Industrial gums extracted from seaweeds fall into three categories: alginates (derivatives of alginic acid), agars and carrageenans. The first is extracted solely from brown seaweeds whilst the last two are extracted only from red seaweeds. There are a number of artificial products said to be suitable replacements for seaweed gums but none have the exact gelling and viscosity properties of seaweed gums and it is very unlikely that seaweeds will be replaced as the source of these polysaccharides in the near future.

Annual production and value of international seaweed gums market, 2007/8.

Source: Dr Harris Bixler