citric acid

[blacktulip]

so here's something i hadn't thought of in the past year of wonderful rawness. . . my roommate loves hearts of palm and we looked at the ingredients, and the only thing added to the kind she bought from a health food store was citric acid. and we realized we don't know exactly what this is, other than something that acts as a perservative. is it a perservative? is it raw? i don't eat anything anymore from a jar like that except unpasteurized and raw things (like sauerkraut and miso) but i thought i'd post it on here to see if anyone else knows about this. thanks!!!

[Tirza]

I have seen it in some recipes. It is an ingredient to produce a sour taste and since it is made from lemons or limes I would say just use the lemons or limes. Otherwise, it is supposed to be a preservative as well.

If you read the following article you will see some uses for it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid

It is something that I have heard is a good substitute for questionable deoderants. I have dissolved it in warm water and keep it in a little bottle in the bathroom to splash on under my arms after a shower (NOT after shaving though-it stings) It is actually quite good. I believe the theory is that it kills the odor-causing germs that are under the arms. I have even heard that you can splash or spray it on the underarms of sweaty clothing for deoderizing before you put it in the laundry. I might want to check for colorfastness first though.