Fermented Foods Codexery

Vinegar

Sour liquid used in cooking, cleaning, and medicine for millennia.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires vinegar to contain at least 4% acetic acid, but it may range up to 8% in commonly used vinegars.[1] Vinegar is a sour-smelling liquid composed of dilute acetic acid along with various trace substances, which can be either added flavorings or naturally present organic compounds.[2] The acetic acid concentration in vinegar usually falls between 4% and 18% by volume.[2]

Quick Facts

Chemical formula
CH3COOH (acetic acid)
Typical acidity
4% to 18% acetic acid by volume
Key fermentation agent
acetic acid bacteria
Major production methods
slow fermentation (months to a year) and fast fermentation (1–3 days)
Common uses
  • culinary ingredient
  • salad dressing
  • pickling agent
  • household cleaner

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

The word vinegar derives from the French “vin aigre,” or sour wine.[1] The first documented evidence of vinegar making and use was by the ancient Babylonians around 3000 BCE.[3] During the Zhou dynasty, the Chinese began to professionalize vinegar production, and the Zhou Li text records that many noble and royal households employed a specialized "vinegar maker."[4] Wine-based vinegar saw frequent use by both Greek and Roman civilizations.[4]

The French city of Orléans gained renown in the late Middle Ages for its high-quality vinegar, produced through a standardized fermentation and aging method later called the Orléans process.[5] The submerged fermentation technique, invented during the 20th century, once again transformed vinegar manufacturing by reducing production time to a mere one to two days.[6] Acetic acid in vinegar is typically generated through a two-stage fermentation: first, yeast converts simple sugars into ethanol, and then acetic acid bacteria convert that ethanol into acetic acid.[7]

What the cited sources add

The Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health notes that early records from China, the Middle East, and Greece describe vinegar for medicinal purposes, such as a digestive aid and an antibacterial balm to dress wounds.[1] The same source states that existing scientific research does not support the use of vinegar as an effective treatment for any chronic conditions.[1] A meta-analysis of 11 clinical trials found that taking vinegar significantly reduced glucose and insulin levels after meals.[1] The BBC Good Food team explains that true balsamic vinegar is an artisan product from Modena, Italy, made with grape must that is simmered to make a concentrate, allowed to ferment, then matured for a minimum of 12 years in barrels of different woods.[8]

The Vinegar Book website states that fruit vinegar is often made from raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries.[9]

References

  1. "Vinegar", TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, 1 October 2019. facts only, no text reused. hsph.harvard.edu
  2. Wikipedia, "Vinegar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Acetic acid: general information", GOV.UK (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Vinegar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bourgeois, "The history of vinegar and its acetification systems", Archives des Sciences, December 2009, p. 147–160 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Vinegar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Smith, "Vinegar, the Eternal Condiment", Spikehorn Press, 2019, p. 29–31 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Vinegar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bourgeois, "The history of vinegar and its acetification systems", Archives des Sciences, December 2009, p. 147–160; Smith, "Vinegar, the Eternal Condiment", Spikehorn Press, 2019, p. 29–31; Smith, "From Alegar to Sarson's: A History of Malt Vinegar", Petits Propos Culinaires, 2019, p. 95–119; Giudici, "Balsamic Vinegars", February 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Vinegar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yun, "Surface Film Formation in Static-Fermented Rice Vinegar: A Case Study", Mycobiology, 2019-04-03, p. 250–255 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Vinegar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nakayama, "Studies on acetic acid-bacteria I. Biochemical studies on ethanol oxidation", The Journal of Biochemistry, September 1959, p. 1217–1225 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Balsamic vinegar", BBC Good Food. facts only, no text reused. bbcgoodfood.com
  9. "What is Fruit Vinegar?", vinegarbook.net. facts only, no text reused. vinegarbook.net

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Vinegar (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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