A natural preservative and also used for adding an acidic or sour taste to fruits and food items is known as citric acid. Citric acid can be used as environmentally benign cleaning agent and also is very much weak organic acid. Citric acid exists in greater amounts in fruits especially those of citrus fruits which are lime, lemons, and oranges etc which have high concentrations of this acid. Whenever citric acid is kept at room temperature it is white crystalline powder and can also exist in an anhydrous or monohydrate form.Citric acid is used for cleaning, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, dyeing, food beverages and also in personal care items. Citric acid is also used in the shampoo for the removal of wax and also the color from hair. Citric acid is considered to be effective and active ingredient in bathroom and kitchen cleaning solutions and also increases the solubility of brown heroine. In dying process citric acid is used for food coloring to balance the ph level. Citric acid is used in food industries thus to give flavors and it also acts as preservative for food and beverages especially in the soft drinks.
For industrial purpose it is used as successful alternative to nitric acid in passivation for stainless steel and also can be used for the slow setting of the portland cement as it can delay setting time substantially. The combination of citric acid and vitamin c very much go together as citric acid is used for fruits which are known as citrus fruits and these fruits are very much nutritious as it contains vitamin c. Citric acid bonds easily with other minerals and metals which are known as chelation. Citric acid is considered to be an organic acid and also an organic element of varieties of fruits and juices. The element known as citrate which is used in calcium citrate supplements and also in many medicines which are very much related to citric acid.
