Citric acid is one of the earliest and most popular food acidulants. It is used extensively in the manufacturing of carbonated beverages, fruit and vegetable drinks, cheeses and other dairy products. Citric acid is also a natural component of many fruits and vegetables. The citric acid content of these foods determines their acceptability and keeping quality. The accurate quantification of citric acid in such foods is therefore essential for quality control requirements and meeting legal regulations.
Several analytical methods for the determination of citric acid have been reported in the literature. They include the AOAC method', gas chromatographic (GC) method#, and liquid chromatographic (LC) methods4-'. These methods, however, may be lacking specificity, may be time-consuming or may require derivatization of the acid before analysis. The present LC methods were developed for the separation of standard citric acid and other organic acids or were used to quantify citric acid in a few food products.
In this study, a simple and specific high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of citric acid in a wide variety of food products is presented.