The use of sodium citrate

Sodium citrate is used in food industry, accounting for more than 75% of the output. It can be used as souring agent, antioxidant and pH regulator for food, and can be used for refreshing drinks, jams, cakes and other foods. Used in pharmaceutical industry, accounting for about 10%, mainly used as anticoagulant, antacid and cosmetics. Used in chemical industry, accounting for about 15%, used as buffer, complexing agent, toner, etc. It is widely used in electronics, textile, petroleum, ceramics and other industries.

Among food additives, it is mainly used for 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. Sodium citrate accounts for about 2/3 of the total amount of acidulant.

Adding sodium citrate to canned fruits can maintain or improve the flavor of stored fruits, increase the acidity (decrease the pH value) of some fruits with low acidity during storage, weaken the heat resistance of microorganisms and inhibit their growth, and prevent bacteria from canning and destroying canned fruits with low acidity.

Adding sodium citrate as an acid agent in candy is easy to coordinate with fruit flavor. Using sodium citrate in jelly food such as sauce and jelly can effectively reduce the negative charge of pectin and make pectin molecules synthesize gel through hydrogen bonds.

When processing canned vegetables, some vegetables will have alkaline reaction. Using sodium citrate as pH regulator can not only play a seasoning role, but also maintain its quality. Sodium citrate has the characteristics of chelating and adjusting pH value, which can increase the performance of antioxidant, inhibit the activity of enzyme and prolong the shelf life of food in the processing of quick-frozen food.

Extended data:

The preparation methods of sodium citrate mainly include

1, citric acid and sodium hydroxide method

This is also the earliest production technology research and development. Dissolving citric acid in water, adding it into sodium hydroxide solution, neutralizing the reaction and generating a lot of heat, filtering, concentrating, crystallizing and drying to obtain the finished product. The method has simple process and good product purity; The disadvantage is that the finished product is high. Now it is only used to prepare laboratory supplies.

2, citric acid+Soviet style of play

The improved neutralization process has the advantages of easy procurement, easy preservation and low production cost of soda ash raw materials, and is widely used in various industrial enterprises at present.

3, citric acid+baking soda method

This method is an improved preparation method for soda ash products that are not suitable for pharmaceutical industry. In this method, high-quality baking soda is dissolved in water according to the calculated amount, neutralized with citric acid, and then concentrated and crystallized to prepare medical-grade sodium citrate. It is characterized by mild reaction conditions, good product quality and good process operability. At present, this method is mainly used in some pharmaceutical factories.

4, calcium citrate+Soviet style of play

In this method, calcium citrate and soda ash are mixed to produce a double decomposition reaction, and insoluble substances are filtered to obtain sodium citrate. The product purity is poor and the operation process is long. A few years ago, it was reported that by adjusting the pH value of mixing conditions, the technological process was simplified, the production cost was reduced, and better quality products were obtained.

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