tartaric acid

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. an organic compound, C 4 H 6 O 6 , existing in four isomeric forms, the common or dextrorotatory isomer being a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder or transparent crystals: used in effervescent beverages, baking powders, confections, photography, and tanning.

---

tartaric acid British  

noun

1. Systematic name: 2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid.  a colourless or white odourless crystalline water-soluble dicarboxylic acid existing in four stereoisomeric forms, the commonest being the dextrorotatory ( d- ) compound which is found in many fruits: used as a food additive ( E334 ) in soft drinks, confectionery, and baking powders and in tanning and photography. Formula: HOOCCH(OH)CH(OH)COOH

---

tartaric acid Scientific  

/ tär-tăr′ĭk /

1. A crystalline organic acid that exists in three isomeric forms and occurs widely in plants. It is found in byproducts of wine fermentation and has a wide variety of uses, including to make cream of tartar and baking powder, to add effervescence to beverages, to polish metal, in printing and dyeing, and to make photographic chemicals. Chemical formula: C ₄ H ₆ O ₆ .

---

Etymology

Origin of tartaric acid

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

If eaten, the tartaric acid in grapes or raisins may cause acute kidney disease.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2022

Industrial winemakers today can simply take care of any potential problems in the cellar, adding products like Mega Purple, powdered tannin or tartaric acid to solve issues of color, structure or acidity.

From New York Times • Sep. 3, 2020

William Astbury, J. D. Bernal and Kathleen Lonsdale worked at the Royal Institution in London under physicist and Nobel laureate William Henry Bragg, studying small molecules such as tartaric acid.

From Nature • Apr. 15, 2019

“The tartaric acid establishes grapes,” said Andrew Waterhouse, who studies the chemistry of wine at the University of California at Davis and was not a participant in this research.

From Washington Post • Nov. 13, 2017

This led Thomson to the view that in sugar, tartaric acid, quartz, etc., the turning is due to the structure of the substance, and in the magnetic field to rotation already existing in the medium.

From Lord Kelvin An account of his scientific life and work by Gray, Andrew