– what is the difference between the sort of sour that vinegar is, and the sort of sour that berries are?

Question

I’m the sort of person who loves acidity in my food, I love pickles and tomatoes and I put vinegar on everything. When I was pregnant I drank spoonfuls of balsamic vinegar because I craved it. But this doesn’t seem to apply to sour berries. I have to put sugar on strawberries and I can’t eat raspberries because they’re too tart. What is the difference between these two types of sour, so that I have an extreme tolerance for one and no tolerance for the other?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Vinegar’s sour flavour is the “acetic acid” which comes from the fermentation process, and fruits like berries naturally contain “citric acid”.

Citric acid is known to be a stronger acid, so it just might be a little beyond your comfort level (especially if you can’t handle lemons)!