Tartaric acid tamarind

The tamarind fruit (pod) has mainly pulp and seeds. The seeds are covered by a thin parchment, membrane-like structure. The pulp constitutes 30-50% of ripe fruit (Purseglove, 1987 Shankaracharya, 1998). The shell and fibre account for 11-30% and the seed constitutes around 25 10% (Chapman, 1984). The fruit pulp (both ripe and dried) contains mainly tartaric acid, reducing sugars, pectin, tannin, fibre and cellulose. The general composition of tamarind fruits is given in Table 20.1. 

Tamarind has tartaric acid as its major organic acid component. Many polyphenols are found in the coat of the tamarind fruit. Tamarind kernel powder (TKP) has a xyloglucan, which has a variety of uses. TKP, a crude extract of tamarind seeds, has been used as a replacement for... 

The most outstanding characteristic of tamarind is its sweet acidic taste, the acid due to mostly tartaric acid. The latter is synthesised in tamarind leaves in the light and translocated to the flowers and fruits (Lewis et aL, 1961 and Patnaik, 1974, both cited in (3)). Tartaric is an unusual plant acid formed from the primary carbohydrate products of photosynthesis, and once formed, it is not metabolically used by the plant (3). The content of tartaric acid does not... 

Fruit acids (such as malic acid in plums, tartaric acid in tamarind, or malic, tartaric, citric acid, in figs) have analogously a laxative effect. 

Tamarind, Partially dried ripe fruit of Tamarindus indica L., Leguminosae, preserved in sugar or syrup. Habit. East Indies, India, Africa naturalized in West Indies, Cort-stit The pulp contains about 10% tartaric acid, also some citric and malic acids 25-40% invert sugar, pectin. Review Rao, Srivastava, in Industrial Gums, R, L. Whistler, Ed, (Academic Press, New York, 2nd ed., 1973) pp 369-411. 

Carboxylic acids are Bronsted-Lowry acids, they are proton donors. They are the most common type of organic acid. Among the simplest examples are formic acid H-COOH, that occurs in ants, and acetic acid CH3-COOH, that gives vinegar its sour taste. Acids with two or more carboxyl groups are called dicarboxylic, tricarboxylic, etc. The simplest dicarboxylic example is oxalic acid (COOH)2, which is just two connected carboxyls. Mellitic acid is an example of a hexacarboxylic acid. Other important natural examples are citric acid (in lemons) and tartaric acid (in tamarinds). 

Contains plant acids (16-18%) composed mainly of r/-tartaric acid (up to ca. 18%), with minor amounts of /-mahc acid. Citric acid has also been reported as a major component in the old literature, though it has not been detected in Indian tamarind (youngken). Other constituents include polyphenolics (catechin, epicatechin, and procyanidin), flavonoids (taxifolin, apigenin, eriodictyol, luteolin, and naringenin), sugars (20-40%), pectin, protein (2.8%), fat, vitamins (e.g., Bi and C), minerals (Ca, K, P, etc.), and tartrate (merck ... 

Mali M, Khadaskar SN, Patel NT (2004) Kinetics of chromic acid oxidation of citric acid and tartaric acid (in lemon and tamarind, a comparative study) in acetic-water medium. Asian J Chem 16 811 817... 

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