
- Lemons. Lemon, a citrus fruit, contains naturally occurring citric acid and produces the highest levels of this acid naturally out of all foods.
- Sourdough Bread. Accomplished bakers of sourdough bread know that "feeding" your live sourdough starter culture an added shot of citric acid will give the bread an extra high level of ...
- Mozzarella Cheese. Citric acid will help cultured milks clot better and faster and therefore is used in mozzarella cheese making processes.
- Cooking Stock. Citric acid, sometimes referred to as sour salt in cooking terms, is a common addition to cooking stock as a preservative.
- Mayonnaise. Beating pasteurized egg yolks with salt and lemon juice and then slowly adding oil smoothly into the mixture prepare mayonnaise.
- Gummy Soft Candies. Gummy soft candies are flavored with fruit juice containing citric acid. ...
- Lemon Flavored Soft Drinks. Lemon-flavored soft drinks contain citric acid as a preservative ingredient. ...
- Tomatoes. Tomatoes, considered members of both the vegetable plant group as well as a member of the fruit group, contain substantial levels of naturally occurring citric acid.
- Lemons.
- Limes.
- Oranges.
- Grapefruits.
- Berries.
What foods are high in citric acid?
- certain dairy products, including cheese
- fish and seafood
- high-sodium processed foods
- fresh meats and processed meats, such as corned beef and turkey
- certain starchy foods, such as brown rice, oat flakes, or granola
- carbonated beverages, such as soda, seltzer, or spritzers
- high protein foods and supplements with animal protein
What is citric acid, and is it bad for You?
Since commercially made citric acid is sourced from Aspergillus niger, which is a known allergen, its safety is cause for concern. In a 2018 study published in Toxicology Reports, researchers found that citric acid may be linked to inflammatory symptoms, such as swelling, stiffness and abdominal pain.
What are the side effects of too much citric acid?
Some of the side effects associated with citric acid medicines or supplements include:
- Upset stomach
- Feeling weak or tired
- Lightheadedness
- Diarrhea
- Nausea or vomiting
- Numbness in the hands or feet
What are some empirical formulas of citric acid?
Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC (CO 2 H) (CH 2 CO 2 H) 2. Usually encountered as a white solid, it is a weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in the metabolism of all aerobic organisms .
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Are there different types of citric acid?
We sell two type of Citric Acid: Citric Acid Crystals (Anhydrous) and Citric Acid Powder (Anhydrous). Please select the type below. Citric Acid is a naturally occurring weak organic acid commonly found in lemons, oranges, limes and other citrus fruit.
What products are citric acid in?
Lemons, limes, and other citrus fruits are the predominant natural sources of citric acid. Other fruits that contain much smaller amounts of it include certain berries, cherries, and tomatoes....Natural food sourceslemons.limes.oranges.grapefruits.tangerines.pomelos.
What is the common name for citric acid?
OVERVIEW. Citric acid (SIT-rik AS-id) is also known as 2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid and β-hydroxytricarballylic acid. It is a common constituent of plant and animal tissues.
Which vegetable is citric acid?
What are some fruits and vegetables that contain citric acid? Citric acid occurs naturally in lemons, limes, pineapples, grapefruits, berries (not blueberries), tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, and some varieties of peppers.
Does milk have citric acid?
-The amount of citric acid in milk powder is quite considerable, being equal roughly to one-fifth of the ash. A sample of fresh milk (April) gave 0.158 per cent. of anhydrous citric acid. The average figure obtained with full cream milk powders was 1.16 per cent., and with skim milk powders 1.55 per cent.
Do bananas have citric acid?
On the opposite end of the citric acid spectrum are foods without citric acid. These fruits include: Bananas. Coconuts.
What are the 10 examples of acid?
10.1: Acids: Properties and ExamplesAcids.Hydrochloric Acid.Sulfuric Acid.Nitric Acid.Carbonic Acid.Formic Acid.Citric Acid.Acetylsalicylic Acid.
Is baking soda citric acid?
No, those are absolutely not the same thing. They're completely different compounds: baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and citric acid is C6H8O7. And they're not even similar chemically: baking soda is a base, and citric acid is (surprise) an acid.
Is lemon juice citric acid?
Results. Lemon juice and lime juice are rich sources of citric acid, containing 1.44 and 1.38 g/oz, respectively. Lemon and lime juice concentrates contain 1.10 and 1.06 g/oz, respectively. The citric acid content of commercially available lemonade and other juice products varies widely, ranging from 0.03 to 0.22 g/oz.
Is cucumber a citric acid?
Cucumbers with an endocarp pH near 3.5 have been observed to have citric acid concentrations as high as 73 pmoles/g or 1.4% on a wet weight basis.
Do eggs have citric acid?
Significant differences were found in the range of egg weight loss in the preliminary study, with the highest value being observed for eggs from the control group and the lowest recorded for 10 and 15% citric acid concentrations.
What are acidic foods to avoid?
7 Acidic Foods to Limit if You Have HeartburnCitrus and Citrus Juice. Lemons, oranges and grapefruits their juices typically have a pH between 2 and 3. ... Vinegar. Vinegar is highly acidic, with a pH level between 2 and 3. ... Soda and Other Carbonated Drinks. ... Tomatoes. ... Black Coffee. ... Chocolate. ... Rhubarb.
What drinks contain citric acid?
Lemon juice and lime juice are rich sources of citric acid, containing 1.44 and 1.38 g/oz, respectively. Lemon and lime juice concentrates contain 1.10 and 1.06 g/oz, respectively. The citric acid content of commercially available lemonade and other juice products varies widely, ranging from 0.03 to 0.22 g/oz.
Can you be allergic to citric acid?
Would citric acid trigger an allergic reaction in someone with a citrus allergy? Answer: The short answer is “no” as citric acid does not provoke an immune response, a requirement for allergy.
What drinks don't have citric acid?
Citric acid is found naturally in most fruits and as an additive in many commercial drinks. Other than water, there are only a few beverage options that don't have citric acid, including some root beers, green tea, and milk and milk alternatives.
What soft drinks contain citric acid?
Beverages. Citric acid is added to nearly all carbonated soft drinks. The largest amounts are added to fruit-flavored soft drinks, particularly the citrus-flavored varieties. Most alcoholic beverages don't contain citric acid, with the exception of wine.
What fruits have citric acid?
Lemons, oranges, limes, and other citrus fruits possess high concentrations of citric acid. Citric acid exists in a variety of fruits and vegetables, most notably citrus fruits. Lemons and limes have particularly high concentrations of the acid; it can constitute as much as 8% of the dry weight of these fruits (about 47 g/L in the juices ).
What is the chemical formula for citric acid?
Chemical compound. Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC (CO 2 H) (CH 2 CO 2 H) 2. Usually encountered as a white solid, it is a weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits.
How to prepare acid salts of citric acid?
Acid salts of citric acid can be prepared by careful adjustment of the pH before crystallizing the compound. See, for example, sodium citrate . The citrate ion forms complexes with metallic cations. The stability constants for the formation of these complexes are quite large because of the chelate effect.
What is the cid cycle?
Citrate is an intermediate in the TCA cycle ( aka T ri C arboxylic A cid cycle, or Krebs cycle, Szent-Györgyi ), a central metabolic pathway for animals, plants, and bacteria. Citrate synthase catalyzes the condensation of oxaloacetate with acetyl CoA to form citrate. Citrate then acts as the substrate for aconitase and is converted into aconitic acid. The cycle ends with regeneration of oxaloacetate. This series of chemical reactions is the source of two-thirds of the food-derived energy in higher organisms. Hans Adolf Krebs received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery.
How is citric acid regenerated?
After the mold is filtered out of the resulting solution, citric acid is isolated by precipitating it with calcium hydroxide to yield calcium citrate salt, from which citric acid is regenerated by treatment with sulfuric acid, as in the direct extraction from citrus fruit juice.
How much citric acid is produced every year?
More than two million tons of citric acid are manufactured every year. It is used widely as an acidifier, as a flavoring, and a chelating agent. A citrate is a derivative of citric acid; that is, the salts, esters, and the polyatomic anion found in solution.
Where does citrate go in the body?
Citrate can be transported out of the mitochondria and into the cytoplasm, then broken down into acetyl-CoA for fatty acid synthesis, and into oxaloacetate. Citrate is a positive modulator of this conversion, and allosterically regulates the enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase, which is the regulating enzyme in the conversion of acetyl-CoA into malonyl-CoA (the commitment step in fatty acid synthesis). In short, citrate is transported into the cytoplasm, converted into acetyl CoA, which is then converted into malonyl CoA by acetyl CoA carboxylase, which is allosterically modulated by citrate.
What is citric acid?
Citric acid is a naturally occurring acid in crystalline form found in certain fruits and vegetables with preservative and antioxidant properties. Used often in the preservation or fermenting process of many different types of prepared food items and for flavoring cooked dishes, sweets and sodas this additive can be difficult for some ...
Which fruit has the highest citric acid content?
Lemon , a citrus fruit, contains naturally occurring citric acid and produces the highest levels of this acid naturally out of all foods. The more sour the lemon is the higher the level of naturally occurring citric acid that is being produced.
What is the preservative in lemon flavored soft drinks?
Lemon-flavored soft drinks contain citric acid as a preservative ingredient. The citric acid also serves as an agent to provide the distinguishable lemon flavor of the lemon flavored soft drink.
Why use citric acid in mozzarella cheese?
Citric acid will help cultured milks clot better and faster and therefore is used in mozzarella cheese making processes. Those making mozzarella cheese at home can purchase citric acid powder to emulsify the product and to give the finished mozzarella product a longer shelf life with the additive's preservative properties.
Is sour salt a preservative?
Citric acid, sometimes referred to as sour salt in cooking terms, is a common addition to cooking stock as a preservative. Prepackaged prepared chicken stock that is purchased at the local supermarket often will have this common preservative listed in its ingredient list.
Does sourdough bread need citric acid?
Sourdough Bread. Accomplished bakers of sourdough bread know that "feeding" your live sourdough starter culture an added shot of citric acid will give the bread an extra high level of soured bite. The citric acid is best incorporated during the fermentation process 1.
Where does citric acid come from?
Citric acid is a compound originally derived from lemon juice. It’s produced today from a specific type of mold and used in a variety of applications.
What is citric acid used for?
). Citric acid is a versatile additive for food, beverages, medicines, and dietary supplements, as well as cleaning and disinfecting products.
Why is citric acid added to medicine?
Citric acid is an industrial staple in medicines and dietary supplements. It’s added to medicines to help stabilize and preserve the active ingredients and used to enhance or mask the taste of chewable and syrup-based medications ( 6 ).
How much citric acid is used in food?
Food and beverages use an estimated 70% of manufactured citric acid, pharmaceutical and dietary supplements use 20%, and the remaining 10% goes into cleaning agents ( 4 ).
Why is citric acid used in soft drinks?
Because of its acidic, sour-tasting nature, citric acid is predominantly used as a flavoring and preserving agent — especially in soft drinks and candies.
What is manufactured citric acid?
Manufactured citric acid is one of the most common food additives in the world. It’s used to boost acidity, enhance flavor, and preserve ingredients ( 5 ). Sodas, juices, powdered beverages, candies, frozen foods, and some dairy products often contain manufactured citric acid.
What is the compound that makes lemons odorless?
The odorless and colorless compound was produced from lemon juice until the early 1900s when researchers discovered that it could also be made from the black mold, Aspergillus niger, which creates citric acid when it feeds on sugar ( 1. Trusted Source.
What is Citric Acid?
Citric is a weak organic acid with the chemical formula C6H8O7. Citric acid is one of the large numbers of metabolites produced by aspergillus species.
What is the purpose of citric acid?
Citric acid forms a wide range of metallic salts including complexes with copper, iron, manganese, magnesium and calcium. These salts are the reason for its use as a sequestering agent in industrial processes and as an anticoagulant blood preservative.
What is the best chelating agent for cleaning?
2. Cleaning Agent. Citric acid is one of the chelating agents. With the help of citric acid limescale from evaporators and boilers is removed. It is used in soaps and laundry detergents as water are softened by the acid. Household cleaners used in kitchen and bathroom also contain some amount of citric acid.
What is the difference between succinic acid and citric acid?
Citric acid is one of many metabolites produced by Aspergillus species. Citric acid possesses sweet-and-sour sensory notes, and succinic acid has a salty— bitter taste. With the change in soil and climatic condition, the citric acid amount in vegetables and fruits also varies.
Why is citric acid important?
Consuming foods that contain naturally occurring citric acid (from, say, lemon or lime juice) have advantages because it acts as an antioxidant, meaning that it protects the body from damaging free radicals. Eating huge quantities of antioxidants aids with everything from heart protection to cancer prevention.
Why is citric acid used in cosmetics?
Cosmetics. Citric acid helps in the removal of dead skin so used for home masks. Improves skin tone and skin growth reducing wrinkles, acne scars etc. To balance the pH levels citric acid is commonly used the ingredient in cosmetics.
What app can you use to learn about citric acid?
This was a brief on citric acid uses. To know more uses of citric acid, download the BYJU’S – the learning app.
What is Citric Acid?
Ask a chemist, a cook, and a housecleaner about the definition of citric acid, and you’ll get a few distinctly different answers. You might wonder if they’re even talking about the same product.
Where does citric acid come from?
As you probably could have guessed, citric acid was originally derived from citrus fruits like lemons, limes, and oranges (seriously yum). While it’s possible to isolate the compound from citrus juice, this process is difficult and expensive to perform at scale.
What acid is used in baking?
If you love to bake, you’ve probably used ingredients like buttermilk (an acidic dairy product), vinegar, or lemon juice before. Citric acid is just a more direct, precise, and economical way to achieve that tart flavor in your baked goods.
What acid to use for lemon squares?
The next time you’re making bread without a sourdough starter or need some extra punch ink your lemon squares, consider adding a pinch or two of citric acid to the mix.
Why do foods have acid?
We may not realize it, but favorite foods have the right amount of acid to counterbalance bitterness and complement other flavors like salt, sweetness, and umami. Acidity also adds depth to foods that might otherwise be one-dimensional in flavor.
Is citric acid a reliable acid?
It’s a little complicated, but the point is that we now have affordable, reliable citric acid available for daily use, thanks to the efforts of scientists and engineers.
Is citric acid a misunderstood ingredient?
Citric acid is the perfect example of an ingredient that is commonly misunderstood but is actually quite important in a whole bunch of recipes and cooking techniques.
What is Lewis acid?
Lewis acid can be defined as any chemical compound that can accept pair of non-bonding electrons.
What is mineral acid?
Mineral acids are acids derived from inorganic compounds. They vary from weak to strong acids and also are mono, di, or even triprotic.
How many proton ions can monoprotic acids donate?
Monoprotic acids can donate only one proton (H+) ion.
What is the pH of acid?
Acids are chemical compounds that are sour to taste and turn blue litmus paper red. They have a pH of less than 7 on the pH scale. They dissociate to release proton (H+) in aqueous solutions. Acids should be handled with great care as they are corrosive in nature.
Is an organic acid a hydrocarbon?
Organic acids are organic in nature (contain hydrocarbons). These acids are present in most of our food items.
Do weak acids dissociate completely?
Weak acids do not dissociate completely into ions when dissolved.

Overview
Applications
Because it is one of the stronger edible acids, the dominant use of citric acid is as a flavoring and preservative in food and beverages, especially soft drinks and candies. Within the European Union it is denoted by E number E330. Citrate salts of various metals are used to deliver those minerals in a biologically available form in many dietary supplements. Citric acid has 247 kcal per 100 g. In the Un…
Natural occurrence and industrial production
Citric acid exists in a variety of fruits and vegetables, most notably citrus fruits. Lemons and limes have particularly high concentrations of the acid; it can constitute as much as 8% of the dry weight of these fruits (about 47 g/L in the juices ). The concentrations of citric acid in citrus fruits range from 0.005 mol/L for oranges and grapefruits to 0.30 mol/L in lemons and limes; these values va…
Chemical characteristics
Citric acid can be obtained as an anhydrous (water-free) form or as a monohydrate. The anhydrous form crystallizes from hot water, while the monohydrate forms when citric acid is crystallized from cold water. The monohydrate can be converted to the anhydrous form at about 78 °C. Citric acid also dissolves in absolute (anhydrous) ethanol (76 parts of citric acid per 100 p…
Biochemistry
Citrate is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, also known as the TCA (TriCarboxylic Acid) cycle or the Krebs cycle, a central metabolic pathway for animals, plants, and bacteria. Citrate synthase catalyzes the condensation of oxaloacetate with acetyl CoA to form citrate. Citrate then acts as the substrate for aconitase and is converted into aconitic acid. The cycle ends with regeneration of oxaloacetate. This series of chemical reactions is the source of two-thirds of the food-derived e…
Synthesis of other organic compounds
Citric acid is a versatile precursor to many other organic compounds. Dehydration routes give itaconic acid and its anhydride. Citraconic acid can be produced via thermal isomerization of itaconic acid anhydride. The required itaconic acid anhydride is obtained by dry distillation of citric acid. Aconitic acid can be synthesized by dehydration of citric acid using sulfuric acid:
(HO2CCH2)2C(OH)CO2H → HO2CCH=C(CO2H)CH2CO2H + H2O
Safety
Although a weak acid, exposure to pure citric acid can cause adverse effects. Inhalation may cause cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat. Over-ingestion may cause abdominal pain and sore throat. Exposure of concentrated solutions to skin and eyes can cause redness and pain. Long-term or repeated consumption may cause erosion of tooth enamel.
Compendial status
• British Pharmacopoeia
• Japanese Pharmacopoeia