Mi454 Photometer for the determination of TARTARIC ACID in wine analysis

Mi454 is a user-friendly photometer for monitoring tartaric Acid in the process of wine making. This instrument gives you a direct reading in mg/L, with a range of 0.0 to 5.0 mg/L.

Tartaric acid is a white crystalline organic acid. It occurs naturally in many plants, particularly grapes and tamarinds, and is one of the main acids found in wine. Salts of tartaric acid are known as tartrates. It is a dihydroxy derivative of dicarboxylic acid.

These "tartrates" are harmless, despite sometimes being mistaken for broken glass, and are prevented in many wines through cold stabilization. The tartrates that remain on the inside of aging barrels were at one time a major industrial source of potassium bitartrate.

However, tartaric acid plays an important role chemically, lowering the pH of fermenting "must" to a level where many undesirable spoilage bacteria cannot live, and acting as a preservative after fermentation.