Sugar

Drinking my morning tea today, I wondered what kind of sweetener I use; it turned out to be sucrose. So what exactly is sucrose?

Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharide. It’s an odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste. It can though take many forms; it can be caramelized, in fine powder, crystalized... The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁.

It’s probably the most abundant pure organic chemical in the world and the one most widely known by non-chemists.

It’s used to sweeten foods and give the consumer an energy boost, as it contains about 20 calories per tablespoon and its energy gets released directly into the bloodstream.

It’s extracted from the crop sugarcane or the sugar beets , in which sugar can account for 12% to 20% of the plant's dry weight. Sucrose is obtained by extraction of these crops with hot water; concentration of the extract gives syrups, from which solid sucrose can be crystallized. In 2011, worldwide production of table sugar amounted to 168 million tons. And each person consumes up to 100kg of sugar a year, which is a gigantic amount compared to the 5 kg most consumed a hundred years ago.

Nowadays, sugar is basically used in the food industry, although it is increasingly replaced with other less caloric sweeteners. 

Sodium fluoride

Today I went shopping and I remembered I needed new toothpaste, when i got to the display of toothpaste, I had no clue which one to choose, there were so many! I ended up just buying one at random, but why are there so many different kinds? Well that would be a too long story, so I decided to look what they all have in common: sodium flouride is one of the most common ingredients.
Sodium fluoride  is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula NaF. When pure, it is a colorless solid.

NaF is prepared by neutralizing hydrofluoric acid  (H₂SiF₆). Neutralizing agents include sodium hydroxide and sodium carbonate. Alcohols are sometimes used to precipitate the NaF:

HF + NaOH → NaF + H₂O

Sodium fluoride is widely used in toothpaste to prevent cavities as the fluoride ion strengthens teeth and reduces the chance of decay.

But be careful digesting excessive fluoride can result in dental fluorosis, where the teeth become mottled and discolored and the surface of the enamel becomes pitted.

NaF also has several other industrial uses. The compound can be used to make enamel, preserve wood, and make foam, then it is also used to fluoridate water (control the level of fluoride in the public water supply). It is also part of a paper coating process and can assist in producing opal glass.

Of course there are many other ingredients in toothpaste and every brand has different ingredients, but at least now you are a step closer to know what exactly is in your everyday goods.

look at the link below to see some amaizing reactions with Flouride.

flouride is one of the most reactive metals in the peroidic table, so it is really amazing too see how it reacts.

Periodic Table of Videos

Potassium sorbate

Christmas is nearly here and it is now the time to buy the typical Christmas products. One of my favorites is the Italian Panetones. But, have you ever wondered how it can stay in perfect texture throughout the whole Christmas holidays?

In the ingredient list of my panetone I found Potassium Sorbate

So let’s find out a little bit more about this additive.

Potassium Sorbate is an inexpensive yellowish crystalline powder used to expand the shelf life of products, so basically it a food preservative (E number202).

Potassium sorbate is salt of sorbic acid and is prepared by reacting sorbic acid with potassium hydroxide. Its chemical formula C₆H₇KO_2.

But don’t worry, it can be fully digested and, although a freshly made Panetone will eventually taste better, the added products won’t ruin your tasty Christmas experience.

Caffeine

Each morning, thousands of people in the world wake up with a nice mug of coffee. But what exactly is so special about coffee?

Coffee contains a special substance called caffeine; this is what makes coffee so bitter. Pure caffeine is a white powder and is one of the most popular drugs in the world.

Caffeine (C₈H₁₀N₄O₂) is the common name for trimethylxanthine and belongs to the family of heterocyclic compounds known as purines. Is a plant-based alkaloid which stimulates the central nervous system of any creature that ingests it. In nature, caffeine serves as a form of pest control for certain plants such as cacao trees as the caffeine causes insects and other pests to collapse from the effects of over-stimulation.

Don’t worry though, although caffeine is called a drug, it is legal and the effects aren’t great if you just drink one cup of coffee or two. So enjoy your breakfast!

Butylated Hydroxytoluene

As usual today in the morning I ate a cereal bar for breakfast and I went to school. Cereal bars normally are said to be made of natural ingredients, but today, when I looked at the ingredient list though, I found a quite strange substance: Butylated hydroxytoluen. I mean, one knows this isn’t natural just by reading the name!

Butylated hydroxytoluene, for short BHT, is a fat soluble organic compound that is used as an anti-oxidant and food additive (E number E321). It works by slowing down the oxidation rate of ingredients which can cause a change in smell and color. So basically it helps the product to maintain the color, aroma and freshness.

It is primarily used to prevent fats in foods from becoming rancid, but it is also used as an antioxidant in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, jet fuels, rubber and petroleum products.

In the pharmaceutics area it is used as an anti-viral agent in pet foods and it has been shown to suppress some viruses in humans.

It is primarily made from the chemicals p-cresol & isobutylene. P-cresol is a chemical that is a mosquito attractant while isobutylene is a flammable substance one hydrocarbon away from common butane: 

CH₃(C₆H₄)OH + 2 CH₂=C(CH₃)₂ → ((CH₃)₃C)₂CH₃C₆H₂OH

When pure it is found as a white, crystalline or flaked solid, odorless or having a characteristic faint.

It really is incredible that one compound can be used to treat food we can digest safely and at the same time it is used to treat oil and plastic which are toxic for us.

table salt

Salt is one of the most common minerals in the world, many of us take it for granted that it comes from the sea and that it’s just that plain white powder we put on our food. Although this is all true, salt has a much deeper background.

Salt also known is a mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of ionic salts. It forms in translucent white cubic crystals and occurs commonly in the mineral form, halite, also called rock salt. It can be formed by theacid-base reaction of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide:

HCl + NaOH à H₂O + NaCl

Chloride and sodium ions, the two major components of salt, and are needed by all known living creatures in small quantities. Salt is involved in regulating the water content of the body. The sodium ion itself is used for electrical signaling in the nervous system. 

Salt is currently mass-produced by evaporation of seawater or brine from brine wells and salt lakes. Mining of rock salt is also a major source.

Sodium chloride is also used to produce sodium carbonate and calcium chloride. Sodium carbonate is used to produce glass, sodium bicarbonate, and dyes as well as myriad other chemicals. (For more info on sodium carbonate look at my post: sodium-bicarbonate)

Salt is considered one of the most important substances for humans, may have head that in the past, it was as important as gold, so now you know, we all have a small treasure in our kitchens!

Phosphoric acid

Most of us know that coke is bad for our teeth because of the high sugar content, but is it just because of the sugar? I looked at the ingredient list and found this: Phosphic acid.

This acid is an inorganic acid with the chemical formula H₃PO₄. 

It is used to make phosphate salts for fertilizers, in dental cements, in the preparation of albumin derivatives, and in the sugar  industries as it serves as an acidic, fruitlike flavoring in food products.

Although it is an acid and it can be corrosive when the concentration is higher than 85%, when in an aqueous solution it is clear, colorless, odorless and most importantly it isn’t toxic.


If you are interested on further properties of coke and what Phosphic acid can do, check out the video links below, you’ll be blown off your chairs!

A simple but amazing experiment you can do at home with Coca-Cola and plastic utensils. Shows how harmful phosphoric acid, which is in many sodas, can be.

AMAZING experiment with Coca-Cola and Plastic Utensils

An other interesting experiment

An egg in cola

Glycerin

more about this compound

related videos:

Amazing Properties of Glycerin

Disapparing glass in glycerin

Sodium benzoate

Sprite’s ingredients are: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate

Not long ago, I did a post about how ingredients in coke can be potentially dangerous, today I decided to look further into the ingredient in fizzy drinks and I discovered Sodium Benzonate. 

After some research I found out that it isn’t only found in coke but in most soft drinks and I even found it in orange juice and vinegar, so today, I’m going to look deeper into this compound.

Sodium Benzonate is a type of salt that may occur naturally in some foods but is more likely to be chemically produced and added as a preservative to foods. It is widely used as a food preservative (E number E211) for acidic foods as it has an acidic taste itself, especially in foods such as salad dressings carbonated drinks, jams and fruit juices and pickles. This product is always used in very small amounts as too much of it will bring a bitter taste to the product. It is also used as a preservative in medicines and cosmetics.

It’s chemical formulae is NaC₆H₅CO₂; it is basically formed when reacting sodium hydroxide with benzoic acid. As the name indicates, sodium benzonate is an acid when found in an aqueous solution and it is bacteriostatic and fungistatic under acidic conditions. 

So now you know from where that acidic taste comes from is soft drinks. Statistics show though, that although 75% of humans can eventually detect the taste, most of us don’t notice it anymore as we are used to drinking soft drinks on a regular basis, but next time you drink a fizzy drink, try to distinguish the flavor.

Make Benzoic acid and Manganese Dioxide from Toluene

Sodium bicarbonate- baking soda

Ever wondered why when you try baking a cake it stays flat and without any volume instead of spongy and puffy like the ones you buy in a bakery? Perhaps you forgot one of the essential ingredients, sodium bicarbonate.

Sodium bicarbonate? What on earth is that, you may think. Sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda (Aaaa, you know what that is don’t you?) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO₃. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda. The natural mineral form is nahcolite. It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs.

NaHCO₃ is mainly prepared by the Solvay process, which is the reaction of sodium chloride, ammonia, and carbon dioxide in water. 

CO₂ + 2 NaOH → Na₂CO₃ + H₂O

This compound is one of the compounds with a biggest range of uses. It isn’t only used in the food production, but it is widely used to treat numerous medical issues as it is a good neutralizer, which allows it to help with indigestion, high acid levels in the blood and it can be used against drug overdose. Sodium bicarbonate is also used in many tooth whiteners and even in some cleaning products.

So now you know what it is, but what difference does it make in baking? Baking soda is used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture; this will give it that spongy texture.

So next time you bake a cake remember the baking soda and you’ll see the difference in the texture and taste.

Aluminium Chlorohydrate

So today I come to you yet again with another question: ever wondered what your deodorant does to stop you from sweating? Basically it stops bacteria from forming and in some cases even prevent the sweat glands from forming sweat. This is done by using antiperspirants. Depending on the type of product, antiperspirants usually contain salts to actually reduce the flow of sweat from the skin. These salts work by dissolving in sweat and leaving a thin coating of gel over the sweat glands. This coating reduces the amount of sweat on the skin for a number of hours after the antiperspirant is applied. The most common of these salts is aluminium chlorohydrate.

Al₂Cl(OH)₅ is one of the most common active ingredients in commercial antiperspirants and is also often used as a flocculant in water purification stations. It belongs to a specific group of aluminium slats and is commercially manufactured by reacting aluminium with hydrochloric acid.

Although it's the least irritating of the aluminum salts, there have still been concerns from some researchers calming that it can cause breast cancer and other damages as the compound is capable of passing through the blood-brain barrier. However many studies have strongly defended the safety of the product. 

videos

abaut organic chemistry

http://video.answers.com/learn-about-organic-chemistry-1-111430091

Sodium stearoyl lactylate

White soft Bimbo bread ingredients: enriched wheat flour, water, sugar, yeast, salt, soybean and/or canola oil, enrichment (calcium sulfate, vitamin E acetate, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3), Calcium propionate (preservative), calcium sulfate, datem, mono-and diglycerides, citric acid, soy lecithin, sodium stearoyl lactylate, wheat gluten, azodicarbonamide, ethoxylated mono-and diglycerides (http://www.bimbobread.com/Products/Soft-White/Default.aspx)

I love baking and experimenting in the kitchen but somehow, it doesn’t matter how hard I try, when I bake bread it never seems to get as fluffy, sweet and long lastingly fresh as the ones we buy. As this is so odd, because soposedly the bread we buy is “natural” and the manufacturers use the traditional ingredients to bake bread, I took a look at the ingredients of several different bread brands and this is one ingredient I found in every single one.

Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (sodium stearoyl lactylate or SSL) is a versatile, FDA approved food additive. It is one type of a commercially available lactylate. SSL is non-toxic, biodegradable, and typically manufactured using biorenewable feedstocks. Its molecular formula is C₂₄H₄₃NaO_6. It’s a white or cream-colored powder with a caramel odor and sweet taste.

This food additive, has several qualities desired by bakers: it makes the gluten in the bread stronger strengthening the dough and  increasing the volume of the loaf; it maintains the texture fresh as it stops the amylosestarch from going back to its crystalized form, expanding shell life; it acts as an emulsifier improving the capacity of water absorption as the surface tension between the water and the oils is reduced; and it makes the manufacturing of dough cheaper as lower quantities of fat have to be used as it disperses the fats in the bread, making it softer, and less sugar is needed as it already contains a sweet taste.

Qualities like being a fast and effective emulsifying agent and a foam stabilizer and fat and sugar replacer also make this product perfect for other uses in the food industry like icings and fillings, puddings, beverage mixes, cream liqueurs, sauces and even canned meats and pet food.

It truly is incredible how the food industry has foud compound wich are provben to be so helpful for their business, here I have found a picture to see the amazing effect of this additive, of the left a bread without SSL, on the right with it. Now you understand why our bread is so fluffy.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Sodium Laureth Sulfate is a detergent and surfactant (compounds that lower the surface tension of liquids) found in many personal care products. This product is not only one of the cheapest in the market, but it is very efficient too.

S.L.S. is a foaming agent used in many cosmetic products for their cleansing and emulsifying properties.

S.L.S. comes from coconut oil, which is then heated and manufactured.

This substance is found in most shampoos, soaps and any other products that need to disperse homogeneously like fragrance oils and body spray, as it acts like a dispersal agent. It is also used in toothpaste and other products like detergents.

It is a very used product even if its safety has been questioned for being cancer erecting and corrosive for the skin if not manufactured correctly.

Menthol