Citric acid is mainly used as acidulant, solubilizer, buffer, antioxidant, deodorant, odorant, gelling agent, toner and so on. In addition, citric acid has the functions of bacteriostasis, color protection, flavor improvement and sucrose conversion.
Application:
In terms of food additives, it is mainly used in carbonated drinks, fruit juice drinks, lactic acid drinks and other refreshing drinks and pickled products, and its demand changes with the change of seasonal climate. Citric acid accounts for about 2/3 of the total amount of acidifier.
Adding citric acid to canned fruits can maintain or improve the flavor of stored fruits, increase the acidity of some low-acidity fruits during canning (reduce pH value), weaken the heat resistance of microorganisms, inhibit their growth, and prevent bacteria from canning and destroying canned fruits with low acidity.
Extended data:
Lotus root soaked in citric acid is nontoxic.
Lotus root soaked in citric acid is safe and safe to eat. At the same time, it also reminds the public to distinguish between food additives and illegal additives and not to demonize food additives.
Regarding the incident of soaking lotus root with citric acid, Liu Jinwei, a staff member of Wuhan Food and Drug Enforcement Corps, also said that natural citric acid is widely distributed in nature, and citric acid can be used for food processing without strict restrictions. "It is safer to eat food containing citric acid."
After picking, the color of lotus root will inevitably turn yellow. Therefore, in order to sell well, vendors will soak them in citric acid, and the lotus roots will become white and tender. Lotus roots soaked in citric acid are obviously brittle when broken by hand, while lotus roots soaked in bleach have an odor and cannot be broken by hand at one time.
Baidu encyclopedia-citric acid
People's Daily Online-Citric acid soaked lotus root is nontoxic Expert: Don't demonize food additives.