What Is The Function of Citric Acid?

citric acid is mainly used as anticoagulant, antacid, flavoring agent, cosmetics, etc. used. About 15% of them are used in the chemical industry. Used as buffer, complexing agent, metal cleaner, stain, gelling agent, toner, etc. used. It is very widely used in industrial fields such as electronics, textiles, petroleum, leather, architecture, photography, plastics, casting and ceramics.

• What are the physical properties of citric acid?

• What role does citric acid play in animal nutrition?

• What is the main source of citric acid?

What are the physical properties of citric acid?

At room temperature, citric acid is colorless translucent crystals or white granules or white crystalline powder, odorless, extremely acidic and easily melts in moist air. It can be in the form of an anhydride or a monohydrate: when citric acid is crystallized from hot water, the anhydride is formed.

Crystallization in cold water produces a monohydrate. When heated to 78° Celsius, the monohydrate breaks down into acid anhydrides. Citric acid can also be dissolved in absolute ethanol at 15° Celsius.

What role does citric acid play in animal nutrition?

1. Increase feed intake and promote digestion and nutrient uptake

Adding citric acid to food can improve the palatability of food. Citric acid can directly stimulate the taste buds cells in the mouth, increase saliva secretion, play the role of a flavoring agent, increase the appetite of animals and thus increase the feed intake of animals. Adding citric acid to food can lower the pH of food. After the animals have eaten, the acidity in the stomach decreases and the inactive pepsinogen is converted into active pepsin or directly stimulates the secretion of digestive enzymes; After entering the small intestine, it stimulates the small intestine to release enterostatin, which reflexively inhibits gastric peristalsis, delays gastric emptying, prolongs intestinal passage of the porridge and promotes nutrient digestion.

2. Promoting the health of the intestinal flora

Organic acids can penetrate the cell wall of bacteria, cause changes in the pH gradient inside and outside the bacteria, and inhibit bacterial growth. The appropriate pH value for the growth of several common pathogenic bacteria is neutral and partial. For example, the appropriate pH value of Escherichia coli is 6.0–8.0, that of Streptococcus 6.0–7.5, and probiotics such as lactic acid bacteria are suitable for cultivation in acidic environments. citric acid lowers the pH in the gastrointestinal tract and provides good growth conditions for probiotics such as lactic acid bacteria in the intestinal tract, thereby maintaining the normal balance of microbial flora in the digestive tract of livestock and poultry.

What is the main source of citric acid?

Typically, starches are the main source of citric acid. First, the starchy raw materials are pulverized, and then a suitable amount of water is added to the powdered raw materials and stirred, and the mixture is fermented. After fermentation, a filtrate is obtained by filtration. The filtrate is mixed with calcium carbonate for neutralization and the calcium citrate is filtered out. B. using sulfuric acid to hydrolyze and filter calcium citrate sour, discolour the filtrate by ion exchange, then concentrate, crystallize and then dry to obtain white powdered citric acid.

So we need to use the citric acid in our daily life and production. If you want to get more information about the citric acid, please connect POLIFAR.