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Vinegar is an
aqueous solution An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. It is mostly shown in chemical equations by appending (aq) to the relevant chemical formula. For example, a solution of table salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), in water would be re ...
of
acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...
and trace compounds that may include
flavorings A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gustat ...
. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double
fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
, converting simple sugars to ethanol using yeast, and ethanol to acetic acid by acetic acid bacteria. Many types of vinegar are available, depending on source materials. It is now mainly used in the
culinary arts Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...
as a flavorful, acidic
cooking ingredient Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in vario ...
, or in pickling. Various types are used as condiments or garnishes, including balsamic vinegar and malt vinegar. As the most easily manufactured mild
acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
, it has a wide variety of industrial and domestic uses, including use as a
household cleaner A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties when in dilute solutions. There are a large variety of detergents, a common family being the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are soap-like compounds that are more ...
.


Etymology

The word "vinegar" arrived in Middle English from Old French (''vyn egre''; sour wine), which in turn derives from Latin: ''vinum'' (wine) + ''acer'' (sour).


Chemistry

The conversion of ethanol (CH3CH2OH) and oxygen (O2) to acetic acid (CH3COOH) takes place by the following reaction: :CH_3CH_2OH + O_2->CH_3COOH + H_2O


Polyphenols

Vinegar contains numerous
flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...
s, phenolic acids, and aldehydes, which vary in content depending on the source material used to make the vinegar, such as orange peel or various
fruit juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...
concentrates.


History

While vinegar making may be as old as alcoholic brewing, the first documented evidence of vinegar making and use was by the ancient
Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
ns around 3000 BC. They primarily made vinegar from dates, figs, and beer and used it for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Traces of it also have been found in Egyptian urns. In East Asia, the Chinese began professionalizing vinegar production in the Zhou dynasty. The book ''
Zhou Li The ''Rites of Zhou'' (), originally known as "Officers of Zhou" () is a work on bureaucracy and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the ''Book of History'' by the same name. To replace a lost ...
'' mentions many noble or royal households had a "vinegar maker" as a specialized occupation. Most vinegar-making then was concentrated in what is now Shanxi province near the city
Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...
, which remains a famous vinegar-making region today. Many Chinese kinds of vinegar and their uses for culinary and medicinal purposes were written down in the agricultural manual '' Qimin Yaoshu'' (齊民要術). The Greeks and Romans frequently used vinegar made from wine. The Spartans had vinegar as a part of their traditional broth ''melas zomos''. The Roman Columella described the ingredients and process for making several types of vinegar in his work ''Res Rustica''. In the late Middle Ages, vinegar making was slowly being professionalized in Europe, with the French city of Orléans becoming particularly famous for the quality of its vinegar through a formalized fermentation and aging process, which became known as the Orléans process. During this time,
malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...
vinegar also began to develop in England, where it was first known as ''alegar''. Balsamic vinegar also began its evolution in the Duchy of Modena in Italy, though it would not become widely known until the Napoleonic Wars after being sold abroad by French troops. In the 19th century, vinegar production underwent many dramatic changes, such as rapid industrialization and scientific analysis. Karl Sebastian Schüzenbach invented the first large-scale industrial process for vinegar production in the Kingdom of Baden in 1823. Known as the packed generator, it circulated alcohol over
beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
wood shavings to reduce fermentation times from several months down to 1–2 weeks. This process also facilitated the rise of vinegar made from pure alcohol called spirit vinegar or distilled white vinegar. Japan also began industrializing vinegar production during the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, when Matazaemon Nakano, a man from a traditional sake brewing family, discovered sake lees could be used to make rice vinegar. This helped provide ample vinegar for the burgeoning popularity of sushi in Japan. The company he founded, now known as Mizkan, is headquartered in Kyoto and is the largest vinegar producer in the world. Likewise, vinegar fermentation became understood as a natural and biological process.
Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...
made the decisive discovery that a special type of bacteria, later known as acetic acid bacteria, was the agent of fermentation for vinegar production. In the 20th century, vinegar production was again revolutionized by the invention of the submerged fermentation process that cut production times down to 1–2 days. This allowed the mass production of cheap vinegar around the world.


Production

Commercial vinegar is produced either by a fast or a slow fermentation process. In general, slow methods are used in traditional vinegars, where fermentation proceeds over the course of a few months to a year. The longer fermentation period allows for the accumulation of a nontoxic slime composed of acetic acid bacteria and their cellulose biofilm, known as
mother of vinegar Mother of vinegar is a biofilm composed of a form of cellulose, yeast and bacteria that sometimes develops on fermenting alcoholic liquids during the process that turns alcohol into acetic acid with the help of oxygen from the air and acetic acid b ...
. Fast methods add the aforementioned mother of vinegar as a bacterial culture to the source liquid before adding air to oxygenate and promote the fastest fermentation. In fast production processes, vinegar may be produced in 1-3 days.


Varieties

The source materials for making vinegar are varied – different fruits, grains,
alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...
s, and other fermentable materials are used.


Fruit

Fruit vinegars are made from
fruit wine Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients (other than grapes); they may also have additional flavors taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any alcohol ...
s, usually without any additional flavoring. Common flavors of fruit vinegar include apple,
blackcurrant The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, whe ...
, raspberry,
quince The quince (; ''Cydonia oblonga'') is the sole member of the genus ''Cydonia'' in the Malinae subtribe (which also contains apples and pears, among other fruits) of the Rosaceae family (biology), family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard ...
, and tomato. Typically, the flavors of the original fruits remain in the final product. Most fruit vinegars are produced in Europe, where a market exists for high-priced vinegars made solely from specific fruits (as opposed to nonfruit vinegars that are infused with fruits or fruit flavors). Several varieties are produced in Asia.
Persimmon vinegar Persimmon vinegar is a vinegar made from Oriental persimmon. Called ''gam-sikcho'' () in Korean, it is a traditional condiment, food ingredient, and beverage base in Korean cuisine. Persimmon vinegar is reported to help reduce liver cholesterol ...
, called ''gam sikcho'', is common in South Korea. Jujube vinegar, called ''zaocu'' or ''hongzaocu'', and wolfberry vinegar are produced in China. Apple cider vinegar is made from
cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...
or apple
must Must (from the Latin ''vinum mustum'', "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of t ...
, and has a brownish-gold color. It is sometimes sold unfiltered and
unpasteurized Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. Th ...
with the
mother of vinegar Mother of vinegar is a biofilm composed of a form of cellulose, yeast and bacteria that sometimes develops on fermenting alcoholic liquids during the process that turns alcohol into acetic acid with the help of oxygen from the air and acetic acid b ...
present. It can be diluted with fruit juice or water or sweetened (usually with honey) for consumption. A byproduct of commercial kiwifruit growing is a large amount of waste in the form of misshapen or otherwise-rejected fruit (which may constitute up to 30% of the crop) and kiwifruit pomace. One of the uses for pomace is the production of kiwifruit vinegar, produced commercially in New Zealand since at least the early 1990s, and in China in 2008. Vinegar made from raisins is used in cuisines of the Middle East. It is cloudy and medium brown in color, with a mild flavor. Vinegar made from
dates Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating *Play date, an ...
is a traditional product of the Middle East, and used in Eastern Arabia.


Palm

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
vinegar, made from fermented coconut water or sap, is used extensively in Southeast Asian cuisine (notably the Philippines, where it is known as ''
sukang tuba Mukim Sukang is a mukim in Belait District, Brunei. The population was 169 in 2016. Geography The mukim is located in the interior part of Belait District. It borders Mukim Bukit Sawat to the north, Mukim Rambai of Tutong District to the nor ...
''), as well as in some cuisines of India and
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, especially Goan cuisine. A cloudy, white liquid, it has a particularly sharp, acidic taste with a slightly yeasty note. In the Philippines, other types of vinegar are made from palm sap. Like coconut vinegar, they are by-products of '' tubâ'' (palm wine) production. The two of the most widely produced are
nipa palm vinegar Nipa palm vinegar, also known as ''sukang sasâ'' or ''sukang nipa'', is a traditional Filipino vinegar made from the sap of the nipa palm (''Nypa fruticans''). It is one of the four main types of vinegars in the Philippines, along with coconu ...
(''sukang nipa'' or ''sukang sasa'') and
kaong palm vinegar Kaong palm vinegar, also known as irok palm vinegar or arengga palm vinegar, is a traditional Filipino vinegar made from the sap of the kaong sugar palm (''Arenga pinnata''). It is one of the four main types of vinegars in the Philippines, alon ...
(''sukang kaong'' or ''sukang irok''). Along with coconut and cane vinegar, they are the four main traditional vinegar types in the Philippines and are an important part of Filipino cuisine. Nipa palm vinegar is made from the sap of the leaf stalks of nipa palm. It has a citrusy flavor note to it and imparts a distinctly musky aroma. Kaong palm vinegar is made from the sap of flower stalks of the
kaong palm ''Arenga pinnata'' (syn. ''Arenga saccharifera'') is an economically important feather palm native to tropical Asia, from eastern India east to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the east. Common names include sugar palm, areng palm (als ...
. It is sweeter than all the other Philippine vinegar types and is commonly used in salad dressing. Vinegar from the buri palm sap is also produced, but not the same prevalence as coconut, nipa, and kaong vinegars. Kaong palm vinegar is also produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, though it is not as prevalent as in the Philippines because the palm wine industry is not as widespread in these Muslim-majority countries.


Balsamic

Balsamic vinegar is an aromatic, aged vinegar produced in the
Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...
and
Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...
provinces of Italy. The original product — traditional balsamic vinegar — is made from the concentrated juice, or
must Must (from the Latin ''vinum mustum'', "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of t ...
, of white
Trebbiano Trebbiano is an Italian wine grape, one of the most widely planted grape varieties in the world. It gives good yields, but tends to yield undistinguished wine. It can be fresh and fruity, but does not keep long. Also known as ugni blanc, it h ...
grapes. It is dark brown, rich, sweet, and complex, with the finest grades being aged in successive casks made variously of oak, mulberry, chestnut, cherry, juniper, and ash wood. Originally a costly product available to only the Italian upper classes, traditional balsamic vinegar is marked ''tradizionale'' or "DOC" to denote its
protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...
status, and is aged for 12 to 25 years. A cheaper non-DOC commercial form described as ''aceto balsamico di Modena'' (balsamic vinegar of Modena) became widely known and available around the world in the late 20th century, typically made with concentrated grape juice mixed with a strong vinegar, then coloured and slightly sweetened with caramel and sugar. Balsamic vinegar is made from a grape product. It contains no balsam, though was traditionally aged in balsam as one of the steps. A high acidity level is somewhat hidden by the sweetness of the other ingredients, making it mellow. In terms of its nutrition content, balsamic vinegar contains the carbohydrates of grape sugars (some 17% of total composition), making it some five times higher in caloric content than typical distilled or wine vinegar.


Cane

Vinegar made from sugarcane juice is traditional to and is most popular in the Philippines, in particular in the northern Ilocos Region (where it is called ''sukang Iloko'' or ''sukang basi''). It ranges from dark yellow to golden brown in color, and has a mellow flavor, similar in some respects to rice vinegar, though with a somewhat "fresher" taste. Because it contains no residual sugar, it is no sweeter than any other vinegar. In the Philippines, it often is labeled as ''sukang maasim'' ( Tagalog for "sour vinegar"). Cane vinegars from Ilocos are made in two different ways. One way is to simply place sugar cane juice in large jars; it becomes sour by the direct action of bacteria on the sugar. The other way is through fermentation to produce a traditional wine known as '' basi''. Low-quality ''basi'' is then allowed to undergo acetic acid fermentation that converts alcohol into acetic acid. Contaminated ''basi'' also becomes vinegar. Cane vinegar is also produced in other countries, like France and the United States. A white variation has become quite popular in Brazil in recent years, where it is the cheapest type of vinegar sold. It is now common for other types of vinegar (made from wine, rice, and apple cider) to be sold mixed with cane vinegar to lower the cost. Sugarcane ''sirka'' is made from sugarcane juice in parts of northern India. During summer, people put cane juice in earthenware pots with iron nails. The fermentation takes place due to the action of wild yeast. The cane juice is converted to vinegar having a blackish color (from ferrous oxide and acetate). The ''sirka'' is used to preserve pickles and for flavoring curries.


Grains

vinegar made from
ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...
, also called "alegar", is made by
malting Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, most ...
barley, causing the starch in the grain to turn to
maltose } Maltose ( or ), also known as maltobiose or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α(1→4) bond. In the isomer isomaltose, the two glucose molecules are joined with an α(1→6) bond. Maltose is the two- ...
. Then an ale is brewed from the maltose and allowed to turn into vinegar, which is then aged. It is typically light-brown in color. Malt vinegar (along with salt) is a traditional seasoning for
fish and chips Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...
, and in the United Kingdom and Canada, a popular seasoning for
French fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...
in general. Some fish and chip shops replace it with
non-brewed condiment Non-brewed condiment is a malt vinegar substitute created with water, acetic acid, flavourings and often caramel colour, sometimes used in fish-and-chip shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is also used in salads. Traditional vinegars ar ...
. Salt and vinegar are combined as a common, traditional flavouring for potato crisps; in some varieties this involves the conversion of the vinegar to sodium acetate or sodium diacetate, to avoid dampening the product in manufacture. Chinese black vinegar is an aged product made from rice, wheat,
millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
,
sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...
, or a combination thereof. It has an inky black color and a complex, malty flavor. The recipe is not fixed, so some Chinese black vinegars may contain
added sugar Added sugars or free sugars are sugar carbohydrates (caloric sweeteners) added to food and beverages at some point before their consumption. These include added carbohydrates (monosaccharides and disaccharides), and more broadly, sugars natural ...
, spices, or caramel color. The most popular variety, Zhenjiang vinegar, originates in the city of Zhenjiang in
Jiangsu Province Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
, eastern China. Shanxi mature vinegar is another popular type of Chinese vinegar that is made exclusively from sorghum and other grains. Nowadays in Shanxi province, some traditional vinegar workshops still produce handmade vinegar with a high acidity that is aged for at least five years. Only the vinegars made in Taiyuan and some counties in Jinzhong and aged for at least three years are considered authentic Shanxi mature vinegar according to the latest national standard. A somewhat lighter form of black vinegar, made from rice, is produced in Japan, where it is called ''kurozu''. Rice vinegar is most popular in the cuisines of East and Southeast Asia. It is available in "white" (light yellow), red, and black varieties. The Japanese prefer a light rice vinegar for the preparation of sushi rice and salad dressings. Red rice vinegar traditionally is colored with red yeast rice. Black rice vinegar (made with black glutinous rice) is most popular in China, and it is also widely used in other East Asian countries. White rice vinegar has a mild acidity with a somewhat "flat" and uncomplex flavor. Some varieties of rice vinegar are sweetened or otherwise seasoned with spices or other added flavorings.


Spirits

The term "spirit vinegar" is sometimes reserved for the stronger variety (5 to 24% acetic acid) made from sugar cane or from chemically produced acetic acid. To be called "spirit vinegar", the product must come from an agricultural source and must be made by "double fermentation". The first fermentation is sugar to alcohol and the second is alcohol to acetic acid. Product made from synthetically produced acetic acid cannot be called "vinegar" in the UK, where the term allowed is "
non-brewed condiment Non-brewed condiment is a malt vinegar substitute created with water, acetic acid, flavourings and often caramel colour, sometimes used in fish-and-chip shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is also used in salads. Traditional vinegars ar ...
". Sherry vinegar is linked to the production of sherry wines of
Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...
. Dark mahogany in color, it is made exclusively from the acetic fermentation of wines. It is concentrated and has generous aromas, including a note of wood, ideal for vinaigrettes and flavoring various foods. Wine vinegar is made from red or white wine, and is the most commonly used vinegar in
Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
and Central Europe, Cyprus, and Israel. As with wine, the range in quality is considerable. Better-quality wine vinegars are matured in wood for up to two years, and exhibit a complex, mellow flavor. Wine vinegar tends to have a lower acidity than white or cider vinegars. More expensive wine vinegars are made from individual varieties of wine, such as champagne, sherry, or pinot gris. The term "distilled vinegar" as used in the United States (called "spirit vinegar" in the UK, "white vinegar" in Canada) is something of a misnomer because it is not produced by distillation, but by fermentation of distilled alcohol. The fermentate is diluted to produce a colorless solution of 5 to 8% acetic acid in water, with a pH of about 2.6. This is variously known as distilled spirit, "virgin" vinegar, or white vinegar, and is used in cooking, baking, meat preservation, and pickling, as well as for medicinal, laboratory, and cleaning purposes.Sinclair C, ''International Dictionary of Food and Cooking'', Peter Collin Publishing, 1998 The most common starting material in some regions, because of its low cost, is barley
malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...
, or in the United States, corn. It is sometimes derived from petroleum. Distilled vinegar is used predominantly for cooking, although in the UK it is used as an alternative to brown or light malt vinegar. White distilled vinegar can also be used for cleaning, and some types are sold specifically for this purpose.


Culinary uses

Vinegar is commonly used in food preparation, in particular as pickling liquids, vinaigrettes, and other
salad dressings A salad dressing is a sauce for salads. Used on virtually all '' leafy salads'', dressings may also be used in making salads of beans (such as three bean salad), noodle or pasta salads and antipasti, and forms of potato salad. Salad dressings c ...
. It is an ingredient in sauces, such as hot sauce, mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise. Vinegar is sometimes used in chutneys. It is often used as a condiment on its own, or as a part of other condiments.
Marinades Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flav ...
often contain vinegar.
Soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...
s sometimes have vinegar added to them, as is the case with
hot and sour soup Hot and sour soup is a popular example of Sichuan cuisine. Similar versions are found in Henan province, near Beijing, and in Henan cuisine itself, where it may also be known as ''hulatang'' or "pepper hot soup" (胡辣汤). North America Un ...
. In terms of its shelf life, vinegar's acidic nature allows it to last indefinitely without the use of refrigeration; it is essentially already "spoiled".


Beverages

Several beverages are made using vinegar, for instance ''
posca Posca was an Ancient Roman drink made by mixing wine vinegar and water. Bracing but less nutritious and palatable than wine, it was typically a drink for soldiers, the lower classes, and slaves. Etymology and later elaborations The word ''posca ...
'' in ancient Rome. The ancient Greek drink ''
oxymel Oxymel (, ) is a mixture of honey and vinegar, used as a medicine. Its name is often found in Renaissance (and later) pharmacopoeiae in Late Latin form as either a countable or uncountable noun. As a countable noun, it is spelled variously as (s ...
'' is made from vinegar and honey, and '' sekanjabin'' is a traditional Persian drink similar to ''oxymel''. Other preparations, known colloquially as " shrubs", range from simply mixing sugar water or honey water with small amounts of fruity vinegar, to making syrup by laying fruit or mint in vinegar for several days, then sieving off solid parts and adding considerable amounts of sugar. Some prefer to boil the "shrub" as a final step. These recipes have lost much of their popularity with the rise of
carbonated beverages A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often Carbonated water, carbonated), a Sweetness, sweetener, and a natural and/or Artificial Flavoring, artificial flavoring. The sweetene ...
, such as soft drinks.


Diet and metabolism

Preliminary research indicates that consuming 2-4 tablespoons of vinegar may cause small reductions in post-meal levels of blood glucose and
insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...
in people with diabetes.


Nutrition

Distilled or red wine vinegar is 95% water, with no fat or protein. In a reference amount, distilled vinegar supplies of food energy and no
micronutrient Micronutrients are nutrient, essential dietary elements required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. Micronutrient requirements differ between organisms; for exam ...
s in significant content. The composition (and absence of nutrient content) for red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar are the same, whereas balsamic vinegar is 77% water with 17% carbohydrates, per 100 mL, and contains no fat, protein, or micronutrients.


In folk medicine

Since antiquity, folk medicine treatments have used vinegar, but no conclusive evidence from clinical research supports health claims of benefits for diabetes, weight loss, cancer, or use as a probiotic. A systematic review and meta-analysis later suggested it could help type 2 diabetics reduce insulin and glucose after meals. Some treatments with vinegar pose risks to health. Esophageal injury by apple cider vinegar has been reported, and because vinegar products sold for medicinal purposes are neither regulated nor standardized, such products may vary widely in content and acidity.


Cleaning

White vinegar is often used as a household cleaning agent. For most uses, dilution with water is recommended for safety and to avoid damaging the surfaces being cleaned. Because it is acidic, it can dissolve mineral deposits from glass, coffee makers, and other smooth surfaces. Vinegar is known as an effective cleaner of
stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
and glass. Malt vinegar sprinkled onto crumpled newspaper is a traditional, and still-popular, method of cleaning grease-smeared windows and mirrors in the United Kingdom. Vinegar can be used for
polishing Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or by applying a chemical treatment, leaving a clean surface with a significant specular reflection (still limited by the index of refraction of the material accordin ...
copper, brass, bronze or silver. It is an excellent solvent for cleaning
epoxy resin Epoxy is the family of basic components or cured end products of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide functional group is also coll ...
as well as the gum on sticker-type price tags. It has been reported as an effective drain cleaner.


Herbicide and sting relief

Twenty percent acetic acid vinegar can be used as a
herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...
, but acetic acid is not absorbed into root systems so the vinegar will only kill the top growth and perennial plants may reshoot. Applying vinegar to common jellyfish stings deactivates the
nematocyst A cnidocyte (also known as a cnidoblast or nematocyte) is an explosive cell containing one large secretory organelle called a cnidocyst (also known as a cnida () or nematocyst) that can deliver a sting to other organisms. The presence of this ce ...
s, although not as effectively as hot water. This also applies to the Portuguese man o' war, which, although generally considered to be a jellyfish, is not (it is a siphonophore).


Reactions, byproducts, and regulation

Most commercial vinegar solutions available to consumers for household use do not exceed 5%. Solutions above 10% require careful handling, as they are corrosive and damaging to the skin. When a bottle of vinegar is opened,
mother of vinegar Mother of vinegar is a biofilm composed of a form of cellulose, yeast and bacteria that sometimes develops on fermenting alcoholic liquids during the process that turns alcohol into acetic acid with the help of oxygen from the air and acetic acid b ...
may develop. It is considered harmless and can be removed by filtering.
Vinegar eels ''Turbatrix aceti'' (vinegar eels, vinegar nematode, ''Anguillula aceti'') are free-living nematodes that feed on a microbial culture called mother of vinegar (used to create vinegar) and may be found in unfiltered vinegar. They were discovered ...
(''Turbatrix aceti''), a form of
nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...
, may occur in some forms of vinegar unless the vinegar is kept covered. These feed on the mother of vinegar and can occur in naturally fermenting vinegar. Some countries prohibit the sale of vinegar over a certain percentage of acidity. As an example, the government of Canada limits the acetic acid of vinegars to between 4.1% and 12.3%, unless it is sold only for manufacturing use and identified as such. When baking soda and vinegar are combined, the bicarbonate ion of the baking soda reacts to form carbonic acid, which decomposes into carbon dioxide, water and
sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...
completing the carbon cycle.


See also

*
Food additive Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives have been used for centuries as part of an effort to preserve food, for example vinegar (pickling), salt (salt ...
* List of condiments * Vinegar tasters


References


External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=July 2019 Condiments Household chemicals Traditional medicine