Question

Name the microbe used in the production of citric acid.

Answer 1

Production of citric acid is done with the help of a process called fermentation which is generally done with the help of fungus. This fungus is more widely used in fermenting other products also.

Complete answer:
Citric acid is produced in the plants and this citric acid is a very good organic acid and has found its uses in the kitchen household of human beings because the citric acid has a pleasant taste of acid and it is also highly soluble in water. The fungus is very helpful in providing higher yields as compared to the conventional methods. The substrate from which the citric acid is needed to produce is grown inside the inoculations of the fungus at different concentrations leading to the growth of cell biomass. The biomass is filtered and separated. The citric acid is produced in the inoculation. The citric acid is separated from the inoculation by the help of precipitation of the solution. The production of citric acid is high even when the substrate is available in a limited quantity. Normally, if we see, citric acid is the main ingredient due to which certain fruits have a little sour flavor in them. The common examples of fruits containing citric acid are lime and oranges. There are other laboratory methods in which the citric acid is extracted from the fruits easily but the disadvantage is that these techniques are very time consuming and the yield is not that good as compared to the microbial method.

Note:
There are other microbes like bacteria and yeast which are being used in the production industry of citric acid but their efficiency and yield are not that much good as compared to the fungus.