Organic acids are natural substances with acidic properties, found in pure form in plants, and also taking the form of salts or esters - organic compounds
In a free state, such polybasic hydroxy acids are contained quite often in fruits, while compounds are characteristic primarily of other plant elements such as the stem, leaves, and so on. If you look at organic acids, their list is constantly growing and in general is not closed, that is, regularly updated. Already discovered acids such as:
- adipic,
benzoic
Dichloroacetic
valerian
glycolic
glutaric
Limon
maleic
Margarine
-oil,
-dairy,
monochloracetic,
- ant
propionic,
salicylic
trifluoroacetic,
fumar
acetic,
- oxal,
Apple
succinic and many other organic acids.
Often such substances can be found in fruit and berry plants. Apricots, quinces, cherry plums, grapes, cherries, pears, citrus fruits and apples are classified as fruit plants, while lingonberries, cherries, blackberries, cranberries, gooseberries, raspberries, and black currants are assigned to berry plants. They are basically based on tartaric, citric, salicylic, oxalic and malic acids. Organic berries are also present in the berries, including a lot of benzoic acid.
To date, many properties of acids have been studied directly in the field of pharmacology and biological effects on the human body. For example:
- firstly, organic acids - significant enough components of metabolism (metabolism, namely proteins, fats and carbohydrates);
- secondly, cause secretory work of the salivary glands; contribute to acid-base balance;
- thirdly, they take a significant part in increasing the separation of bile, gastric and pancreatic juices;
- and finally, are antiseptics.
Their acidity ranges from four point hydrogen (pH) to five and five.
In addition, organic acids play an important role in the food industry, acting as a direct indicator of the quality or poor quality of products. For the latter, the ion chromatography method is very often used, in which not only organic acids, but also inorganic ions can be detected at a time. With this method, conductometric detection with damping the background conductivity shows a result almost ten times more accurate than detection at low UV wavelengths.
The identification of the profile of organic acids in fruit juices is necessary not only to establish the quality of the drink, its affordability, but also helps to determine the fake.
If we consider directly the properties of carboxylic acids, then they primarily include:
- giving red color to litmus paper;
- easy solubility in water;
- present sour taste.
Carboxylic acids are also an important electrical conductor. In terms of decay strength, absolutely all acids belong to the weak group of electrolytes, with the exception, of course, of formic acid, which in turn occupies an average intensity value. The height of the molecular weight of the carboxylic acid affects the decay force and is inversely proportional. With the help of specifically defined metals, it becomes possible to separate hydrogen and salt from acids, which is much slower than when interacting with strong acids like sulfuric or hydrochloric. Salts also appear when exposed to basic oxides and bases.