Citric Acid

Production
Yousef Ahmed Atwa
 Introduction

▪ Citric acid (C6H807) is a weak organic tricarboxylic acid found in

citrus fruits.

▪ Citrus fruits (lemons, oranges, tomatoes, beets etc.) are those

fruits which contains sufficient amount citric acid and they are
classified as acid fruits.

▪ Citric acid is the most important organic acid produced in

tonnage and is extensively used in food and pharmaceutical
industries.

▪ It is good natural preservative

and is also used to add an
acidic taste to food and soft
drinks.
 Citric Acid Market
▪ The World production of this 2-hidroxy-propan-1,2,3-three
carboxy acid, by fermentation, is rapidly increasing. Although
in South America, Mexico and Greece there are still existing
some factories where citric acid is isolated from unripe citrus
fruits, today over 99 % of the World's output of citric acid is
produced microbial by various fermentation processes
 Industrial Production of Citric Acid

▪ Citric acid is produced by three method fermentation, chemical

synthesis and extraction from citrus fruits.

Three method
fermentation

Surface Solid-state Submerged

fermentation fermentation fermentation
1. Surface fermentation (SF)
2. Solid-state fermentation (SSF)
3. Submerged fermentation (SMF)
Flow Chart of citric acid production
 Industrial Production of Citric Acid
• Microorganism: Aspergillus niger.
• Carbon source: molasses or sugar solution.
• High sugar concentration.
• pH: (pH<2)
• Temperature is controlled by cooling coil ( 30 °C ).

• Na-ferrocyanide is added to reduce Iron (1.3 ppm) and manganese.

• Bioreactor: batch or fed-batch (100m3 )

• Aeration is provided to the fermenter by air sparging (0.1-0.4 vvm)

• Agitation: 50-100rpm to avoid shear damage on molds.

• Fed-batch is used to reduce substrate inhibition and prolong the

production phase one or two days after growth cessation.
• Volumetric yield: 130 kg/m 3
Industrial Production of Citric Acid