Home > Specialist chemistry > Analytical chemistry > Articles
 
To whomever will use this article for any purpose, please read here and agree with our request. Thank you.
 

The relationship between pH and extraction of fat
 

  I am engaged in quality control in a food manufacturing company. I am extracting fat using ether to analyze food, but the concentration obtained from my experiment is usually bigger than reported data. I think that it is more likely to be high when especially acidic food is analyzed. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
 

Mawata (Nov 2002)
 

Answer:
 Dr. K.S. kindly answered this question:

  The acidic condition is usually employed when fatty acid is extracted by an organic solvent. Since the pKa of –COOH group of fatty acids is around 4.7 to 5.0, it cannot be extracted very much at neutral condition (pH 7) because of its negative charge. Therefore, it is usually extracted under acidic conditions.

 

 
Figure: Stearic acid (one of fatty acids)

  
I think that this is related to your question. Please think about it.
 
 
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Dr. K.S. for his kind answer.
 
 

This article is translated by Chemistryquestion.com from the original article in Chemistryquestion.jp.  Please let us know if you find any errors.
Home | Specialist chemistry |
Top 3 questions | Gallery |
 
 
©Chemistryquestion.com   2000 - 2007   All rights reserved.     contact