Mostly of natural food thickeners are chemical composition of polysaccharide and polysaccharide derivatives (except gelatin is composed of amino acids), widely distributed in nature. More than 40 species, can be divided into natural and synthetic (including semisynthetic) two big kinds.

According to thickeners source, It can be roughly divided into four categories:
1. By preparing plants exudate: Arabic gum, peach gum.
2. Seeds from plants, algae from:guar gum, carrageenan
3. By preparing protein of plants and animals: gelatin, chitin.
4. Made of natural material on the basis of semisynthetic: xanthan gum and CMC.

Thickening agent involved in industrial classification:
1. Natural thickener: starch and xanthan gum, gelatin, guar gum, natural rubber, AGAR, carrageenan, chitin, and so on.
2. Cellulose thickener: methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, etc.
3. Inorganic thickener: organic bentonite, diatomite, fumed silica, sodium base bentonite, silica gel and so on.
4. Synthetic polymer thickener: polyurethane thickener, sodium polyacrylate, polyvinyl alcohol, polypropylene amide, and so on.