Food antioxidants and acidity regulators

Acidity regulators are substances that establish and maintain a certain pH value in a food product. The addition of acids reduces the pH of the product; the addition of buffers maintains the pH at a certain level. The components of the buffer mixture are in a state of chemical equilibrium. The pH value of such a system changes only slightly when concentrating, diluting, and introducing relatively small amounts of substances that interact with one of the components of the buffer system. Most often, the components of the food buffer system are a weak acid (base) and its salt with a strong base (acid). The addition of salts of weak acids or bases can "neutralize" strongly acidic and strongly alkaline solutions.

Acidity regulators are used in the production of beverages, meat and fish products, marmalade, jelly, hard and soft caramel, sour dragees, chewing gum, and chewing sweets. In the production of meat products, especially uncooked smoked sausages, maintaining an acidic reaction of the medium is necessary to optimize the maturation processes, in particular, to prevent the development of undesirable microflora and increase the efficiency of nitrite use. Due to the addition of acids in sausages and ham products, the conversion of myoglobin to heat-resistant nitrosomyoglobin and nitrosogemoglobin is accelerated.