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Citric acid

Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. Usually encountered as a white solid, it is a weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in the metabolism of all aerobic organisms.

More than two million tons of citric acid are manufactured every year. It is used widely as an acidifier, as a flavoring, and a chelating agent.

A citrate is a derivative of citric acid; that is, the salts, esters, and the polyatomic anion found in solution. An example of the former, a salt is trisodium citrate; an ester is triethyl citrate. When part of a salt, the formula of the citrate anion is written as C6H5O3−7 or C3H5O(COO)3−3.

 
Note:   The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article Citric acid, which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.
 

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