Question

Tartaric acid is the organic acid present in which of the following?
A. Gastric juice
B. Tamarind
C. Curd
D. Rancid butter

Answer 1

Hint: Tartaric acid is an organic acid which is a white in colour and crystalline in nature. It is found to occur naturally in many fruits like in grapes, also and citrus. It is used as a leavening agent in food preparation. Tartaric acid itself is added in foods to impart its sour taste.

Complete answer:
- Tartaric acid present in tamarind along with calcium, vitamin B, and sugar elements.
- Generally, all the citrus fruits contain tartaric acid, for example tamarind, orange etc.
- It is found that Tartaric acid increases the critical temperature in certain superconductors, by increasing the oxidation grade. But still the mechanism of this phenomenon is not known.
- There were several applications of tartaric acid known, some of them are:
-Tartaric acid is found to be used in the field of pharmaceuticals. For example, it has been used to improve the taste of various oral medications.
-It is found that tartaric acid also has several applications for industrial use. The acid has been observed to chelate metal ions such as calcium and magnesium. Therefore, Tartaric acid is used as a chelating agent in metal industries and the farming for complexing the various micronutrients in soil fertilizer .
- It is also used for cleaning various metal surfaces that consist of metals like: iron, aluminium, copper, and alloys of these metals.
- It is found that the citrus fruits that are produced in organic farming contain higher levels of tartaric acid than of those fruits that are produced in conventional agriculture.

Hence, the correct option is (B), tartaric acid is the organic acid present in tamarind.

Note:
- Tartaric acid is also found to be harmful if taken in high doses as it will cause paralysis and death.
-One should not get confused in tartaric and citric acid as both are sour in taste. Tartaric acid naturally occurs in grapes while citric acid occurs in citrus fruits.