Potassium gluconate is the

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

of the

conjugate base A conjugate acid, within the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, is a chemical compound formed when an acid donates a proton () to a base—in other words, it is a base with a hydrogen ion added to it, as in the reverse reaction it loses a ...

gluconic acid Gluconic acid is an organic compound with molecular formula C6H12O7 and condensed structural formula HOCH2(CHOH)4COOH. It is one of the 16 stereoisomers of 2,3,4,5,6-pentahydroxyhexanoic acid. In aqueous solution at neutral pH, gluconic acid fo ...

. It is also referred to as 2,3,4,5,6-pentahydroxycaproic acid potassium salt, D-gluconic acid potassium salt, or potassium D-gluconate. It contains 16.69% potassium by mass. Thus 5.99 g of potassium gluconate contains 1 g of potassium. It has a density of 1.73 g/cm³.

Dietary uses

Potassium gluconate is used as a

mineral supplement In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element required as an essential nutrient by organisms to perform functions necessary for life. However, the four major structural elements in the human body by weight (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon ...

and

sequestrant A sequestrant is a food additive which improves the quality and stability of foods. A sequestrant forms chelate complexes with polyvalent metal ions, especially copper, iron and nickel, which can prevent the oxidation of the fats in the food. Se ...

. It is sold over-the-counter as tablets or capsules providing up to 593 mg of potassium gluconate, thereby containing 99 mg or 2.53

milliequivalents An equivalent (symbol: officially equiv; unofficially but often Eq) is the amount of a substance that reacts with (or is ''equivalent'' to) an arbitrary amount (typically one mole) of another substance in a given chemical reaction. It is an arc ...

of elemental potassium. This is the permissible upper limit for each tablet or capsule of over-the-counter potassium supplements sold in the US. Potassium gluconate is also sold over-the-counter as bulk powder. As a

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 ...

, potassium gluconate is used as an

acidity regulator Acidity regulators, or pH control agents, are food additives used to change or maintain pH (acidity or basicity). They can be organic or mineral acids, bases, neutralizing agents, or buffering agents. Typical agents include the following acids ...

and

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

food. It is known as

E number E numbers ("E" stands for "Europe") are codes for substances used as food additives, including those found naturally in many foods such as vitamin C, for use within the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Commonly ...

reference E577.

Safety

Its oral

median lethal dose In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD50 (abbreviation for "lethal dose, 50%"), LC50 (lethal concentration, 50%) or LCt50 is a toxic unit that measures the lethal dose of a toxin, radiation, or pathogen. The value of LD50 for a substance is the ...

(LD₅₀) in rats is 10.38 g/kg. This is not an indicator of a safe oral daily dose in rats or humans.

References

External links

Potassium gluconate medical facts
from Drugs.com
Potassium gluconate
on

Wolfram Alpha WolframAlpha ( ) is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research. It answers factual queries by computing answers from externally sourced data. WolframAlpha was released on May 18, 2009 and is based on Wolfram's earlier product Wolfram Mathe ...

{{Mineral supplements Potassium compounds Gluconates E-number additives