Malic Acid

Malic AcidThere are many different levels of acidity. One of the most obvious for many to taste is that of malic acid. You’ve probably noticed it when you have bitten into a green apple and noticed a sourness. In fact, in 1785 that’s how it was discovered. Carl Wilhelm Scheele isolated malic acid from apple juice, and Antoine Lavoisier took it one step further in 1787 and named it after the latin word for apple, malum.

Funnily enough it is actually more present in rhubarb, so I guess we are lucky that it is not called rheumic acid. When used in a concentrated form, such as with some extreme lollies, it presents a super sour/tart reaction.

Malic acid is a dicarboxylic acid that is made by all living organisms, that contributes to the pleasantly sour, sweet and crisp taste of fruits, like pears and some stone fruits.

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