Question

pH of tomato juice is 4, that means is:
(A) Basic
(B) Acidic
(C) Neutral
(D) None of these

Answer 1

Hint: When there are more hydronium ions present in the solution than hydroxyl ions, the solution is said to be acidic. When there are more hydroxyl ions present in the solution than hydronium ions, then the solution is called a basic solution.

Step by step answer:
- Tomato contains more than more than 10 different types of acids. But out of them, tomatoes have two acids that occur in tomatoes at a very large percentage. These acids are citric acid and malic acid. Tomatoes also contain another essential acid like ascorbic acid, which is better known by its common name vitamin C. Structure of Citric acid and Malic acid is shown below.

Citric Acid: The most abundant acid that is present in tomatoes is citric acid. Citric acid is slightly less acidic than vinegar.
Malic Acid: The amount of malic acid in a tomato juice is half that of citric acid. We use malic acid in energy production, where it's needed to complete a step in the chain reaction. We should understand that malic acid may help prevent calcium oxalate kidney stones.
- So, we are given that pH of the tomato juice is 4. Now, we know that there is a presence of various types of acid in this juice. So, we can say that the juice will be acidic in nature.
- In addition to that, we can also say that when the pH of any solution is between zero to 7 the solution is said to be an acidic solution. When the pH of the solution increases more than 7, then the solution is termed as a basic solution.
From the above discussion, we can say that tomato juice is acidic.

So, the correct answer is (B) acidic.

Note: Do not get confused between pH and pOH of the solution. Remember that when pH of the solution is between zero to 7, the solution is said to be acidic. When pOH of the solution is between 7 to 14, then the solution is said to be acidic.