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(June 2011)| - "Thickener" redirects here. For a separation
method see gravity separation. Thickening agents, or thickeners,
is the term applied to substances which increase the viscosity
of a solution or liquid/solid mixture without substantially
modifying its other properties; although most frequently applied
to foods where the target property is taste, the term also is
applicable to paints, inks, explosives, etc. Thickeners may also
improve the suspension of other ingredients or emulsions which
increases the stability of the product. Thickening agents are
often regulated as food additives and as cosmetics and personal
hygiene product ingredients. Some thickening agents are gelling
agents (gellants), forming a gel, dissolving in the liquid phase
as a colloid mixture that forms a weakly cohesive internal
structure. Others act as mechanical thixotropic additives with
discrete particles adhering or interlocking to resist strain.
Thickening agents can