Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC2.
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31 Facts About Citric acid
2.
Citric acid is the citrate anions bonded by hydrogen ions making it acidic.
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3.
Citric acid exists in a variety of fruits and vegetables, most notably citrus fruits.
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4.
Citric acid was first isolated in 1784 by the chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who crystallized it from lemon juice.
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5.
However, microbial production of citric acid did not become industrially important until World War I disrupted Italian citrus exports.
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6.
Citric acid can be obtained as an anhydrous form or as a monohydrate.
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7.
Citric acid is a tribasic acid, with pKa values, extrapolated to zero ionic strength, of 3.
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8.
Acid salts of citric acid can be prepared by careful adjustment of the pH before crystallizing the compound.
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9.
Citric acid can be esterified at one or more of its three carboxylic acid groups to form any of a variety of mono-, di-, tri-, and mixed esters.
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10.
Citrate is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, known as the TCA cycle or the Krebs cycle, a central metabolic pathway for animals, plants, and bacteria.
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11.
Citric acid has 247 kcal per 100 g In the United States the purity requirements for citric acid as a food additive are defined by the Food Chemicals Codex, which is published by the United States Pharmacopoeia .
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12.
Citric acid can be added to ice cream as an emulsifying agent to keep fats from separating, to caramel to prevent sucrose crystallization, or in recipes in place of fresh lemon juice.
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13.
Citric acid sold in a dry powdered form is commonly sold in markets and groceries as "sour salt", due to its physical resemblance to table salt.
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14.
Citric acid can be used in food coloring to balance the pH level of a normally basic dye.
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15.
Citric acid is an excellent chelating agent, binding metals by making them soluble.
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16.
Citric acid is the active ingredient in some bathroom and kitchen cleaning solutions.
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17.
Citric acid can be used in shampoo to wash out wax and coloring from the hair.
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18.
Illustrative of its chelating abilities, citric acid was the first successful eluant used for total ion-exchange separation of the lanthanides, during the Manhattan Project in the 1940s.
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19.
Citric acid is used as an acidulant in creams, gels, and liquids.
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20.
Citric acid is an alpha hydroxy acid and is an active ingredient in chemical skin peels.
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21.
Citric acid is commonly used as a buffer to increase the solubility of brown heroin.
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22.
Citric acid is used as one of the active ingredients in the production of facial tissues with antiviral properties.
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23.
Citric acid is used as an odorless alternative to white vinegar for fabric dyeing with acid dyes.
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24.
Citric acid can be used as an alternative to nitric acid in passivation of stainless steel.
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25.
Citric acid can be used as a lower-odor stop bath as part of the process for developing photographic film.
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26.
Citric acid is an excellent soldering flux, either dry or as a concentrated solution in water.
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27.
Citric acid is a versatile precursor to many other organic compounds.
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28.
Citraconic Citric acid can be produced via thermal isomerization of itaconic Citric acid anhydride.
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29.
The required itaconic acid anhydride is obtained by dry distillation of citric acid.
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30.
Aconitic acid can be synthesized by dehydration of citric acid using sulfuric acid:.
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31.
Acetonedicarboxylic acid can be prepared by decarbonylation of citric acid in fuming sulfuric acid:.
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