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Preserving (rec.food.preserving) Devoted to the discussion of recipes, equipment, and techniques of food preservation. Techniques that should be discussed in this forum include canning, freezing, dehydration, pickling, smoking, salting, and distilling. |
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Gentle friends: here's the answer to the questions I raised a few weeks ago:
From: Elizabeth Andress "Why can't we substitute ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for citric acid (sour salt) or lemon juice for acidifying canned goods? And if it is possible, what is the substitution rate?" The quick answer is that it cannot be substituted because there are no established levels to provide the proper pH control in the canned foods where we have it required to assure safe boiling water processing instead of pressure processing. Ascorbic acid is not as efficient of an acidifier for the needed purposes (decreasing the pH of the food tissue). It is more expensive (in pure form) and the economics would then be compounded by needing to use more. For acidifying tomatoes, for example, the researchers worked out citric acid, lemon juice and vinegar options, but did not determine an acidification amount for ascorbic acid. There is no general conversion factor; different amounts would have to be tested in the actual food to be acidified. Foods contain natural components that can cause buffering with different acids in solution, and thereby prevent desired pH changes until a threshold is reached. I was not in the profession when the tomato acidification studies were done, but there could have also been some decision-making related to the fact that pure ascorbic acid was not very available to consumers so it was not considered. Three acidulants that were known to be effective food acidifiers and available to consumers were used. It is my understanding, however, that the reasoning has mostly to do with the fact that it is (and was) known that ascorbic acid is not known to be an effective acidifier in the foods being studied, fairly large amounts would be needed and there is a substantial cost difference compared to the chosen compounds. Citric acid is by far the most preferred and commonly used acidulant in the food processing and food canning industry. (And on the other hand, for many foods, ascorbic acid is a more effective anti-darkening agent than citric acid.) Elizabeth Elizabeth L. Andress, Ph.D. Project Director, National Center for HFP Professor and Extension Food Safety Specialist Department of Foods and Nutrition The University of Georgia 208 Hoke Smith Annex Athens, GA 30602-4356 Phone: (706) 542-3773 FAX: (706) 542-1979 |
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