How To Preserve Food Using Citric Acid

It is likely that citric acid is well below your radar, but you almost definitely eat a lot of foods like preserves, sweets or treats that use citric acid. Then what’s that ubiquitous component? Citric acid can be found in many fruits and vegetables, especially in citrus, it is a natural, weak, organic acid. Citric acid is also a by-product of the production of citric acid cycle, therefore many living organisms including mold are also produced.

Citric acid is known for its sour flavor, preservative quality, and ability to act as a pH buffer. This is why citric acid is usually found in your kitchen as an ingredient for many foods.

Production of Citric Acid

While citric acid can be found in many citric fruits at high concentrations, extracting acid from fruits for industrial use is not economical. Therefore, the market for citric acid is far above the amount of available citrus fruit. Due to this reason, there are a lot of citric acid suppliers and manufacturers to produce citric acid.

In 1917, American food chemist James Curie discovered the ability of Aspergillus niger to produce citric acid as a byproduct of metabolism. It was effective and economical to cultivate Aspergillus niger by metabolizing sucrose or glucose to produce citric acid. In those years this technique was used by a lot of citric acid suppliers and manufacturers to produce citric acid.

Once discovered many suppliers and manufacturers began to compete and produce citric acid on an industrial scale. The process of Dr. Currie’s is still used today in the production of citric acid by citric acid supplier.

How to preserve food using citric acid ?

• We can use citric acid to prevent browning after exposure to air. Simply use citrus fruit (lemon or lime), squeeze it over fresh fruits to keep it from browning.
• Citric acid is also useful when canning, it will help to preserve the final product. Use 1 teaspoon citric acid per quart of water or juice when canning.
• Citric acid can be used to help seeds to sprout by simply adding 1 teaspoon citric acid per quart of rinse and soak water.
• Citric acid is particularly useful when preserving meat, such as jerky. Use 1 and half ounce per 100 pound of meat when preserving. We can also add it while seasoning the meat.

Other than food additives, citric acid suppliers also market this material in various industries as it is useful in cosmetics, medicines, as an antioxidant and in cleaning agents.

• Food Flavoring And Preservative — As a preservative, emulsifying agent and as a sour flavoring, citric acid can be used in processed and packaged foods and drinks, such as ice cream, sorbets, sodas, wine as well as canned and jarred products. To avoid botulism, citric acid is applied to a wide range of canned and jarred products.
• Cosmetics and Personal Care Products — Citric acid can help brighten the skin, fix dark spots and reduce fine lines as an ingredient in personal care products. Citric-acid products may be formulated to be applied in close proximity to eyes, ears, mouth and nose as well as to baby skin. It can also be used in hairsprays, deodorant and body sprays, with citric acid and its salts. The lipstick, soap and detergent is made of sodium citrate, a citric acid salt. Citric acid and its salts can be used to maintain and change their pH levels in cosmetics and personal care products.
• Medical Uses — Citric acid is used for killing harmful bacteria and skin surface infections, which can be common in people with diabetes, the elderly, and the smokers. Citric acid also can lower acid levels in the urine to prevent gout attacks by combined with sodium citrate and potassium citrate.
• Antioxidant — Citric acid-derived antioxidants can help keep food edible over a long time. For example, sprinkling citric acid lemon juice may help to prevent browning over apples or bananas. Citric Acid also includes ascorbic acid, more commonly known as Vitamin C, which is used to protect and preserve meats and soft drinks.
• Cleaning Products — Citric acid may be applied to items for industrial cleaning as it may help to extract hard water from glassware and dishes. It can also be used to eliminate coffee and tea, yellowing / browning, and water and urine. Many commercial products containing citric acid are water based and can cause metal corrosion. Dry the metal after washing to reduce and avoid corrosion.