Products
Vinegar (acetum) is available in grocery stores and specialty stores. The French name “Vinaigre”, from which the English name “Vinegar” is also derived, means “sour wine” (le vin: wine, aigre: sour). Vinegar is a traditional product that has been made for thousands of years.
Structure and properties
Vinegar exists as a liquid with a characteristic odor and taste. It is a natural product obtained with the help of oxidative fermentation, for example, from apples, grapes and cereals. Many other foods containing carbohydrates or starch are used to make vinegar, including rice, tomatoes, dates, honey and potatoes. First, carbohydrates such as glucose are fermented by yeast fungi as into ethanol. Subsequently, the alcohol is fermented to acetic acid by acetic acid bacteria (e.g. , , family Acetobacteraceae) during acetic acid fermentation. This is therefore a two-stage fermentation. The bacteria originate from the so-called acetic mother. Starter cultures are also added to industrially produced vinegar. Acetic acid bacteria are aerobic and require oxygen for oxidation. They multiply best at 25 to 30 °C. Acetic acid fermentation takes weeks to months in traditional vinegar. Industrial vinegar can be fermented within one day with the introduction of oxygen. Depending on the starting material, we speak, for example, of apple vinegar, wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar and malt vinegar. Many properties of vinegar are determined by acetic acid (C2H4O2, CH3-COOH, Mr = 60.1 g/mol), a simple carboxylic acid consisting of a methyl and carboxyl group. As a pure substance, acetic acid exists as a clear, volatile, colorless liquid and also as a crystalline mass due to its melting point of about 17 °C and is miscible with water. Acetic acid has a pungent odor and is corrosive. In vinegar, acetic acid is typically present in a concentration of at least 4.5% to 5%, although the acidity of products varies. However, numerous other compounds are important to the odor, taste and other properties of vinegar, for example, acetic acid esters, aldehydes, other organic acids, vitamins, minerals and phenolic compounds. Therefore, an acetic acid solution can never be compared to a vinegar.
Effects
Vinegar has acidic, antiseptic, antimicrobial, antidiabetic and antioxidant properties, among others. It has also been used as a remedy in the past.
Fields of application
- For the preparation of food, for example, salad dressings, mayonnaise, mustard, a vinaigrette and pickles.
- As a natural preservative for food.
- As a natural disinfectant.
- As a cleaning agent, for example, against lime.
- As a home remedy for the treatment of fever (vinegar socks).
- Formerly used as a remedy and for the extraction of acetic acid.
