Organic Acids in Fruits

Fleshy fruits and their products are important constituents of the human diet and are also of considerable commercial importance. A large number of different organic acids are present in the fleshy parts of all fruits, but the contents of these can vary greatly both between fruits of different species and their cultivars. The presence of organic acids in the fleshy parts of fruits affects both their palatability and their utilization in fruit products. The organic acids malic, citric, isocitric, galacturonic, quinic, oxalic, and tartaric are very abundant in some fruits, and the phenolic acids and ascorbic acid are of ubiquitous occurrence in fruits. The metabolism, functions and contents of organic acids in the fleshy parts of fruits are outlined in this chapter.