Titratable Acidity - TA

One way of measuring acidity in milk and cheesemaking is the Titratable Acidity method. This method takes into
account the concentration of disassociated hydrogen molecules and un-disassociated hydrogen ions.
Acidity is related with hydrogen in the solution so TA to measure the total acidity is a better indication of lactic
acid levels.
When you are measuring titratable acidity for milk, it is important to know the normality of your odium!
"ydro#ide $%aO"& solution. This normality gives sort of the strength of your %aO" solution like how much
water and %aO" mi#ed.
NaOH Granules
'f you are getting %aO" granules this should be mi#ed with pure water but you need to know gram/moles
value of the %aO" granules. (elow te#t is copied from internet)
"ow can ' make a *% %aO" solution from %aO" with +,*-g.mol/
'f the %aO" granules are labelled as 40g/mol then you have some
calculation to do.
%ormality $N& , K 0 +olarity $M&
,10M
,M
M , no of moles. volume of solution
,*-g.mol
N,*-g %aO". 1---ml WAT23
o, *% ,*-4.56- +7 WAT23
8 , no of e#tra electrons, o#idation number, no of e9uivalents, total
positive charge if ionic...etc
% , no of e9uivalents. volume of solution
no of e9uivalents , no of moles. gram e9uivalent weight
o it is a bit difficult to prepare your own %aO" solution and may be dangerous.
Buy One
4et yourself an acid titration kit which already comes with %1- %aO" solution and phenolphthalein indicator. 't
is still important to know the normality of your %aO" so that you can accurately measure the titratable acidity in
your product. %ormality of the %aO" solution defines the amount $ml& of test li9uid to be used.
For example:
'f you bought a titration kit with %1- %aO" solution then your test tube must be filled with e#actly :ml of
sample milk. Table below e#plains the amount of milk to be used as sample and their e9uivalent normalities for
%aO" solution;
ml of milk %aO" %ormality
Degree A B
o#hlet "enkel 56ml %.* $1.*,-.56&
<ornic 1-ml %.: $1.:,-.11&
Therner :ml %.1- $1.1-,-.1&
1
The degrees, Soxhlet Henkel, Dornic and Therner come into play here based on your normality of %aO"
solution. =ou must know the degree used in your cheese recipe otherwise things will go dramatically wrong
during the measurements.
Note: Some ine makers sell N! or N0"0##$ Na%H solution and this may gi&e you rong readings 'or your
titrata(le acidity le&els"
How to Measure Titratable Acidity
Once you ac9uire a titration kit you will have most of the things you need to measure the titratable acidity in your
milk or whey. The %aO" solution should be in one of the normalities mentioned above. The acidity in milk is
measured, for e#ample by titration with a %1 %aO" solution, and indicates the consumption of %aO" necessary
to shift the p"!value from >.> ? -.1 $corresponding to fresh milk& to a p"!value of @.5 ! @.* $phenolphthalein&.
Ingredients:
1. =ou need a buret
5. A medicine dropper for phenophthalein
A. An erlenmeyer flask or similar
*. %aO" solution
6. Bhenolphthalein $There is a talk about the alcohol levels in this solution like %2 and I am not sure how it
affects the readins! "s soon as I found some more info on this I will add it here!&
Method:
1. Cill your buret with %aO",
5. +easure 56ml, 1-ml or :ml of your milk based on your %aO" normality into an 2rlenmeyer,
A. <rop A drops of phenophthalein with the help of medicine dropper into the erlenmeyer and mi#.swirl the
erlenmeyer,
*. Open the cock on your buret and start dropping the %aO" solution into erlenmeyer till you get a constant
light pink color, shake after each drop. Bnik color should last 5- seconds
Once you get a light pink color, stop the %aO" dropping and measure.read how much %aO" you used on your
buretDs markings.
Results:
'f %* %aO" used;
Eonsumed %.* %aO" $ml&
F" , !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! G 1--
ml amount of sample milk
Cor lactic acid calculation;
' '' '''
!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!!!
o#hlet "enkel A # * # -.-556
<ornic A # 1- # -.-1
Therner A # 1--.: # -.--:
' , Amount of consumed %aO" $ml&
'', the number which multiplied with the ml of sample used for percentage $F& conversion
''', 29uivalent of 7actic Acid normality of %aO" normality
The &aria(le ))) comes 'rom:
7actic acid is an organic acid with one carbo#ylic acid, E"A!E"O"!EOO", having a molecular weight of :-.
5
One ml of N! %aO" corresponds to; :- . * , 55.6g and
1ml N! lactic acid , 55.6 . 1--- , "#"$$%g o& lactic acid for o#hlet!"enkel <egree
One ml of N' %aO" corresponds to; :- . : , 1-g and
1ml N' lactic acid , 1- . 1--- , "#"(g o& lactic acid for <ornic <egree
One ml of N(" %aO" corresponds to; :- . 1- , :g and
1ml N(" lactic acid , : . 1--- , "#""'g o& lactic acid for Therner <egree
No (ack to calculation
'f the titration re9uires e.g. 1*.6 ml %1 %aO", the result is often e#pressed as;
1*.6 # -.--: H -.1AF lactic acid $see Table1&
%AO"
T32%4T"
1.* % 1.: % 1.1- % A78A7'
EO%I23T2< TO F
7AET'E AE'< Acidity <egree J" K o#hlet "enkel J< K <ornic J%, JT" K Therner
-.* -.: 1 -.--:
*.- :.- 1- -.-:-
*.* :.: 11 -.-::
*.@ 1-.@ 15 -.1-@
6.5 11.L 1A -.11L
6.> 15.> 1* -.15>
>.- 1A.6 16 -.1A6
>.* 1*.* 1> -.1**
>.@ 16.A 1L -.16A
L.5 1>.5 1@ -.1>5
L.> 1L.1 1: -.1L1
@.- 1@.- 5- -.1@-
@.* 1@.: 51 -.1@:
@.@ 1:.@ 55 -.1:@
:.5 5-.L 5A -.5-L
:.> 51.> 5* -.51>
1-.- 55.6 56 -.556
15.- 5L.- A- -.5L-
Table1; Eomparison of titratable acidity based on solely on alkali consumption
"owever, fresh milk contains practically no lactic acid, and the consumption of %aO" is used to change the p"!
value of the following components;
Earbon dio#ide e9uivalent to -.-1F lactic acid
Eitrates ! -.-1F lactic acid
Easein ! -.-LF lactic acid
Albumin.globulin ! -.-1F lactic acid
Bhosphates ! -.-AF lactic acid
Titratable acidity e9uivalent to -.1AF lactic acid
The determination of MacidityM in fresh milk by means of titration is therefore more a measure of the buffer action
of milk than anything else.
A
't is thus necessary to talk about the developed acidity, which is the result of bacterial activity producing lactic
acid during milk collection, transportation, and processing.
The developed acidity will, needless to say, be more pronounced if the milk is not cooled.
'n order to avoid the uncertainties about the degree of titratable acidity or developed acidity, it is necessary to use
direct determination of lactic acid during the processing. This is done in order to find whether any of the installed
e9uipment is responsible for developing acidity e#pressing activity of not only the bacteria alive after a
pasteuriNation, but also previous activity of bacteria killed during the heat treatment.
*