Citric Acid Explained: Uses, Benefits, Production Process & Market Growth

What Makes Citric Acid So Important in Everyday Products

Citric acid is an ingredient you surely have come across, but maybe unnoticed. It's almost everywhere: in drinks in skincare and even in cleaning products. Once you start noticing, you see how prevalent it is.

Citric acid occurs naturally in certain foods, especially in many citrus fruits, such as lemons, oranges, and limes. It is responsible for their sour taste. However, citric acid's usefulness extends many beyond flavors.

Citric acid is commonly used as a preservative in foods and is also used in cosmetics and other personal care products. It regulates the acidity of the products. Thus, citric acid is a critical component in many sectors. According to the GMI Research, the citric acid market is expected to grow to 5 billion USD by 2033.

Most people, especially in 1784 when Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele first identified citric acid from lemon juice, assumed that citric acid and citrus fruits were synonymous.

This assumption was common even in the 20th century. However, has produced more citric acid than citrus fruits.

Fermentation is the new process used to produce citric acid in large quantities.

Citric acid producers have Aspergillus niger, a fungus, to thank for.

Here’s how the process works. Fungi are fed sugars in a controlled environment that derive from sugar cane or corn. The fungi then converts these sugars into citric acid as a byproduct. It is then harvested, purified, and delivered for use in various products.

This may sound complicated, but it's a simple and reliable process. This is why it is used all over the world.

Seeing Citric Acid in the Real World

Here is what is interesting. Citric acid is used in many more places than many people think.

Food and Drink

This is the most apparent use that most people know of. Citric acid is used to give a zesty flavor to sodas, candies, and fruit juices. Citric acid is also used to make food more preservative by lowering the pH which makes it more difficult for bacteria to proliferate.

Beauty Products

This is another one of the more obvious applications for citric acid. When citric acid is used to create a pH balance and stability for a skin care product, it may also help that product with exfoliating. Building up on hair and scalp can be frustrating, and hair care products that use citric acid can help remove that build up and also create a smoother finish to the hair.

Medication

Here it is more of a supporting player, but citric acid is also used in tablets, syrups, and lozenges to improve taste and also help the active ingredients dissolve.

Household Cleaning Products

This one generally surprises most people, but citric acid is actually very useful for cleaning. This is because it reacts with the minerals in water to help it dissolve lime scale and soap scum. This is one of the many reasons it can be found in many of your household cleansing products.