Preservatives Propionic acid

MAJOR USES Used in the production of disinfectants, preservatives, propionic acid, trimethylol ethane, pharmaceuticals, rubber chemicals, polyvinyl and other plastics. 

As a preservative propionic acid is used for the protection of acidic media as the acid itself is corrosive one uses the calcium or the sodium salts, free flowable white powders, which are water soluble (solubility in water at lOO C in g/100 ml sodium salt 150 calcium salt 55-8). The main field of application for propionates is the baking industry where they can protect bread and cakes from the growth of moulds and the proliferation of Bacterium mesentericus which causes rope in bread. Addition rates 015-0 3%. Propionates are also used for the protective treatment of cheese. In the EC list of preservatives those cosmetic products which may contain propionic acid and its salts are listed with a maximum authorized concentration of 2% (acid). 

The activity of the sorbates at a higher pH is one distinct advantage over the two other most commonly used food preservatives, benzoic and propionic acids, because the upper pH limits for activity of these compounds are approximately pH 4.5 and 5.5, respectively. Although the effect of sorbates can be microbiocidal under certain conditions, activity is most often manifested as a microbial growth retardant. 

Annex III lays down the conditions of use for permitted preservatives and antioxidants, with lists of foods and maximum levels in each case. Part A lists the sorbates, benzoates and p-hydroxybenzoates, E 200-E 219 part B lists sulphur dioxide and the sulphites, E 220-E 228 part C lists other preservatives with their uses, including nisin, dimethyl dicarbonate and substances allowed for surface treatment of certain fruits, E 249 potassium nitrite, E 250 sodium nitrite, E 251 sodium nitrate and E 252 potassium nitrate, E 280-E 283 propionic acid and the propionates part D lists the antioxidants E 320 butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), E 321 butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), E 310 propyl gallate, E 311 octyl gallate, E 312 dodecyl gallate, E 315 eiythorbic acid and E 316 sodium erythorbate. 

Propionic acid might be also produced by fermentation of Propionibac-terium acidipropionici, thus providing an attractive alternative that can also meet consumer s demand for natural preservatives used in the food industry. However, conventional batch propionic acid fermentation suffers from low... 

The production of substances that preserve the food from contamination or from oxidation is another important field of membrane bioreactor. For example, the production of high amounts of propionic acid, commonly used as antifungal substance, was carried out by a continuous stirred-tank reactor associated with ultrafiltration cell recycle and a nanofiltration membrane [51] or the production of gluconic acid by the use of glucose oxidase in a bioreactor using P E S membranes [52]. Lactic acid is widely used as an acidulant, flavor additive, and preservative in the food, pharmaceutical, leather, and textile industries. As an intermediate product in mammalian metabolism, L( +) lactic acid is more important in the food industry than the D(—) isomer. The performance of an improved fermentation system, that is, a membrane cell-recycle bioreactors MCRB was studied [53, 54], the maximum productivity of 31.5 g/Lh was recorded, 10 times greater than the counterpart of the batch-fed fermentation [54]. 

Propionic acid (and Food additive for the preservation against molds in, e.g.,... 

ETHYLFORMIC ACID KYSELINA PROPIONOVA LUPROSIL METACETONIC ACID METHYL ACETIC ACID PROPANOIC ACID PROPIONIC ACID (ACGIH,DOT,OSHA) PROPIONIC ACID GRAIN PRESERVER PROZOIN PSEUDOACETIC ACID SENTRY GRAIN PRESERVER TENOX P GRAIN PRESERVATIVE... 

Propionic acid is primarily used as an antioxidant and antimicrobial preservative in foods, and in oral and topical pharmaceutical applications. It is also used as an esterifying agent. 

Wallhausser KH. Propionic acid. In Kabara JJ, ed. Cosmetic and Drug Preservation Principles and Practice. New York Marcel Dekker, 1984 665-666. 

As an excipient, sodium propionate is used in oral pharmaceutical formulations as an antimicrobial preservative. Eike propionic acid, sodium propionate and other propionic acid salts are fungistatic and bacteriostatic against a number of Gram-positive cocci. Propionates are more active against molds than is sodium benzoate, but have essentially no activity against yeasts see Section 10. 

Propionates are used as antimicrobial preservatives in preference to propionic acid since they are less corrosive. 

Propionic acid is used as a feed and com preservative, and as a chemical intermediate. It is also used to control fungi and bacteria in drinking water for livestock. Propionic acid has been qualitatively detected as a volatile component of baked potatoes and cooked meats. It has also been detected in other foods and beverages, including dairy products. Propionic acid is a major constituent (100-300 pg per cigarette) of the gas phase of the mainstream smoke of unfiltered cigarettes. 

Henschel R, Agathos M, and Breit R (1999) Acute irritant contact dermatitis from propionic acid used in animal feed preservation. Contact Dermatitis 40 328. 

Use Manufacture of propionic acid, polyvinyl, and other plastics synthesis of rubber chemicals disinfectant preservative. 

Application of phenyllactic acid (PLA) in the reduction of fungal mass in food is more desirable compared to other preservatives commonly used in bakery products, such as propionic acid and propionic salts. PLA concentrations effective against fungi from bakery products are usually lower than those required for inhibitory activity. Required concentrations have been reported as L. monocytogenes, 13 mg/ml S. aureus, E. coli, Aeromonas hydrophila, 20 mg/ml, whereas at pH 4 a concentration of < 7.5 mg/ml is enough to inhibit > 50% of bacterial growth (Lavermicocca, Valerio, and Visconti, 2003). 

In bakery products, propionic acid is known to inhibit some spoilage agents such as molds and Bacillus spores, but not yeasts to the same extent. This acid is, therefore, the traditional choice for bread preservation (Ponte and Tsen, 1987 Suhr and Nielsen, 2004). In wine, S. cerevisiae may be inhibited by competitor microbes producing organic acids. A stress response is activated to prevent accumulation of these acids to potentially toxic levels (Piper et al., 2001). 

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