Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Passion
Fruit
25
Citric, malic
Peach
8
Malic, citric
Pear
4
Malic, citric
Pineapple
10
Citric, malic
Plum
6
Malic, quinic
Raspberries
14
Malic, citric, isocitric
Strawberries
10
Citric, malic
Watermelon
2
Citric, malic
Acidity of Common Wine Ingredients
Depending upon the fruit you use, your wine must will
already contain a combination of organic acids. Every fruit
has some amount of citric acid, as citric acid is crucial to
metabolism, but often a different acid is predominant and the
combination of acids is unique for every fruit. Each fruit also
has a different overall level of acidity. Some fruits are so
acidic (> 9 grams per liter) they cannot be used exclusively to
make a wine must, and their juice must be diluted with either
water or the juice of a less acidic fruit. The following table
lists common fruits, their acidity as tested by titration and the
primary organic acids in each fruit in decreasing order of
relative quantity.
Measuring Acidity
Thankfully, unlike tannins, which are hard to measure, the
overall acid content of wine musts is easy to determine. Wine
musts contain a variety of acids, but it isn't possible for a
home winemaker to separate these out and measure them
independently. Because each of the primary organic acids has
