In the food industry, citric acid used as a preservative, acidulate, antioxidant, emulsifier, and buffer, continuously require for the ingredient as different types of food products. It is also used as flavoring agent in soft drinks.
The discovery of citric acid has been credited to the 8th century Islamic alchemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan. In 1784, Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele was the first isolated from the lemon juice as calcium citrate, which treated with sulphuric acid gave citric acid in the liquid phase. Citric acid synthesis was first indicated as a fungal product by Wehmer in 1893 by a strain of Penicillium glaucum on sugar- based medium. However, microbial production of citric acid did not become industrially important until World War I disrupted Italian citrus exports.
American food chemist James Currie work was successful for production of citric acid and in 1916 he reported that several strains of Aspergillus niger produced a substantial quantity of citric acid.
The production of citric acid lemon juice peaked in year 1915-1916 at 17,500 tons. The use of citric acid across several industrial sectors increased rapidly throughout the 19th century when the acid was directly extracted from concentrated lemon juice, mainly in Sicily. In Europe, Palermo in 1930 hosted the largest citric acid plant.
Surface culture fermentation was the first method introduced for citric acid production in 1919. In 1930, some units imbedded in England, in Soviet Union, and for the profitable production of citric acid in Germany.
History of citric acid
