HISTORIES OF CITRIC ACID
The discovery of citric acid has been credited to the 8th century Islamic alchemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Geber). Medieval scholars in Europe were aware of the acidic nature of lemon and lime juices.
Citric acid was first isolated in 1784 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who crystallized it from lemon juice.
Industrial-scale citric acid production began in 1890 based on the Italian citrus fruit industry.In 1893, C. Wehmer discovered Penicillium mold could produce citric acid from sugar.
In 1917, the American food chemist James Currie discovered certain strains of the mold Aspergillus niger could be efficient citric acid producers, and Pfizer began industrial-level production using this technique two years later, followed by Citrique Belge in 1929.
In this production technique, which is still the major industrial route to citric acid used today, cultures of A. niger are fed on a sucrose or glucose-containing medium to produce citric acid.
The source of sugar is corn steep liquor, molasses, hydrolyzed corn starch or other inexpensive sugary solutions. After the mold is filtered out of the resulting solution, citric acid is isolated by precipitating it with lime (calcium hydroxide) to yield calcium citrate salt, from which citric acid is regenerated by treatment with sulfuric acid.
WHO IS CARL WILHELM SCHEELE?
In addition to his joint recognition for the discovery of oxygen, Scheele is argued to have been the first to discover other chemical elements such as Barium (1772),Manganese (1774), Molybdenum (1778), and Tungsten (1781), as well as several chemical compounds, including Citric Acid, Lactic Acid,Glycerol,Hydrogen cyanide (also known, in aqueous solution, as prussic acid),Hydrogen fluoride, and Hydrogen sulfide (1777).
In addition, he discovered a process similar to pasteurization, along with a means of mass-producing phosphorus (1769), leading Sweden to become one of the world's leading producers of matches.
About Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Name: Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Nickname: Scheele
Born: 9 December 1742 in Stralsund, German
Died: 21 May 1786 (Aged 43) Koping Sweden
Nationality: German-Swedish
Known For: Discovered Oxygen(Independently), Molybdenum, Barium, Cholrine, Citric Acid and more
All of the Following Papers were Published by Scheele Within a span of Fifteen Years
Fluospar and its Acid
Braunstein or Magnesia (Manganese)
Benzoin Salt (Benzoic Acid)
Wet Process for Preparing Mercurius dulcis (Calomel)
Simple Process for Preparing Pulvis Algarothi (Oxychloride of antimony)
Preparation of a New Green Color
Quantity of Pure Air daily present in the Atmosphere
Decomposition of Neutral Salts by Lime or Iron
The Combustible Substance in Crude Lime
Preservation of Vinegar
Attempt to Crystallize Lemon juice