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What Foods Contain Malic Acid?

Reading the ingredient list on a package label can be as confusing as looking at the control panel of a 747. It is hard to know what ingredients are natural and good for you, and which are fillers, artificial flavors and dangerous additives. Most baffling are the ones that end with word "acid" because that word just sounds dangerous. Not to worry--most acids, like malic acid, are not only harmless, but natural and even necessary.

  1. Identification

    • Malic acid is the organic compound that gives most sour and tart foods their flavor. It was first discovered 1785 in by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who extracted if from apple juice, but it wasn't named until 1787 when Antoine Lavoisier suggested that it take its name from the Latin word for apple which is "mālum."

    Foods With Malic Acid

    • All fruits, including tomatoes, naturally contain malic acid. Even bananas, which have almost no acidic flavor contain 0.25 to 0.56 percent malic acid in weight per volume.

    Other Foods

    • Processed foods like super intense candies, such as Mega Warheads and Sour Punch, also have malic acid in them. Sour sweet candies like Jolly Ranchers usually contain malic acid because they are less tart than citric acid. Some vinegar and salt potato chips contain malic acid to enhance the bite of the "vinegar" taste.

      Beverages that are carbonated, non-carbonated, powdered and low-calorie often contain malic acid to cover the taste of salts and to enhance the flavor. Alcoholic ciders rely in malic acid to keep the "sharp" taste fresh, and many wines are fermented with malic acid to intensify the flavor.

      Whey-based protein drinks use malic acid to help mask the whey taste, and when soy milk is mixed with malic acid it makes a smooth and creamy soy "yogurt."

    Other Uses of Malic Acid

    • Because malic acid is an alpha hydroxy fruit acid, it is used in many skin care products. Dentists use malic acid to clean the teeth before putting in a filling. Also, liquid calcium supplements depend on malic acid to enhance the fruit flavor, and to keep the pH (the proportion of acid to base) balanced.

    Effects

    • There is some evidence to suggest that malic acid helps flush deposits of aluminum from the brain, lessening the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, a December 1999 report in Annals of Internal Medicine called "Management of Fibromyalgia" states that the American College of Physicians and American Society of Internal Medicine considers malic acid to be one of the treatments recommended for fibromyalgia pain. As of 2009, more studies and clinical trials on both of these theories are needed.

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