Malic acid

Malic acid derived from fossil resources is currently applied in the food and beverage industries with a medium global production capacity.

Malic acid also is added to artificially sweeten carbonated beverages to intensify taste and reduce the amount of other added flavorings. These additives give the beverage its distinctive sugar and acid signature taste.

In nature, malic acid is found in the L-form in many fruits such as apple, and indeed it is sometimes called apple acid, and contributes to the sour taste of green apples.

It was thus first identified as a fruit acid by isolation from apples in 1785. Together with citric acid, malic acid belongs to the two most common organic acids in fruits and is the predominant acid in many of them, including apples, bananas, litchis and plums.

It can be synthesized by chemical means through the hydration of fumaric acid under high temperature and pressure, yielding a racemic mixture of D- and L-malate or by enzymatic ways that transform fumaric acid to L-malate using the purified fumarase and the microbial cells containing fumarase.
Malic acid