Gluconic acid

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Gluconic acid

Gluconic acid is an organic compound

Organic compound

An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of compounds such as carbonates, simple oxides of carbon and cyanides, as well as the allotropes of carbon, are considered Inorganic compound....
with molecular formula C₆H₁₂O₇ and condensed structural

Structural formula

The structural formula of a chemical compound is a graphical representation of the molecular structure showing how the atoms are arranged. The chemical bonding within the molecule is also shown, either explicitly or implicitly....
formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
HOCH₂(CHOH)₄COOH. In aqueous solution at neutral pH

pH is a measure of the Acid or Base of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the Activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations....
, gluconic acid forms the gluconate ion. The salts of gluconic acid are known as "gluconates". Gluconic acid and gluconate salts occur widely in nature because such species arise from the oxidation of glucose

Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
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Chemical structure

The chemical structure

Chemical structure

A Chemical structure includes molecular geometry, electronic structure and crystal structure of a chemical compound. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule and the chemical bonds that hold the atoms together....
of gluconic acid consists of a six-carbon chain with five hydroxyl

Hydroxyl

Hydroxyl in chemistry stands for a molecule consisting of an oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom connected by a covalent bond. The neutral form is a hydroxyl Radical and the hydroxyl anion is called a hydroxide....
groups terminating in a carboxylic acid group. In aqueous solution, gluconic acid exists in equilibrium with the cyclic ester Glucono delta lactone.

Occurrence and uses

Gluconic acid occurs naturally in fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
, honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet fluid produced by honey bees , and derived from the nectar of flowers. According to the United States National Honey Board and various international food regulations, "honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance?this includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners...
, kombucha

Kombucha

Kombucha is the Western name for sweetened tea or tisane that has been fermentation using a macroscopic solid mass of microorganisms called a "kombucha colony"....
tea, and wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
. As a food additive

Food additive

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavour or improve its taste and appearance.Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling , edible salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines....
(E574), it is an acidity regulator

Acidity regulator

Acidity regulators, or pH control agents, are food additives added to change or maintain pH . They can be organic acid or mineral acid acids, base , neutralization agents, or buffering agents....
. It is also used in cleaning products where it dissolves mineral deposits especially in alkaline solution. The gluconate anion chelates Ca²⁺

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
, Fe²⁺

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
, Al³⁺

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
, and other heavy metals. Calcium gluconate

Calcium gluconate

Calcium gluconate is a mineral supplement. It is the form of calcium most widely used in the treatment of Hypocalcaemia. Calcium gluconate contains 9.3% calcium....
, in the form of a gel, is used to treat burns from hydrofluoric acid

Hydrofluoric acid

Hydrofluoric acid is a solution of hydrogen fluoride in water. While it is extremely corrosive and dangerous to handle, it is technically a weak acid....
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Gluconic acid

Chemical structure

Occurrence and uses

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