ABSTRACT
Tartaric acid (2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid, molecular weight: 150.09 g/mol) is a white crystalline diprotic acid occurring naturally in plants (grapes, bananas, and tamarinds). The naturally occurring form of the acid, l-(+)-tartaric acid, has chiral properties. The mirror-image (enantiomeric) form, d-(−)-tartaric acid, can be obtained articially. Being diprotic (pKa1 = 2.72; pKa2 = 4.79), tartaric acid provides an efcient buffer solution for pH values between 3 and 3.5, if present as major acid in solutions. Tartaric acid is also a ligand that forms complexes with diverse metal cations (e.g., iron, copper), thereby interfering with the catalytic activity of metal ions in various redox processes within the food matrix (Kreitman et al., 2013; Danilewicz, 2014).
