Q. Define Alcoholic Acidity?

Alcoholic acidity is defined as mg of H₂SO₄ required for 100 g of the sample to have the same alcohol soluble acids.

Grains or their milled products on storage undergo physical, as well as, chemical changes. Acid phosphates, amino acids and free fatty acids of flours, under certain conditions increase considerably due to the enzymatic hydrolysis of phytin, protein and fat, respectively. Milled products deteriorate faster than their parent grains. The amino acids and acid phosphates are soluble in strong alcohol. The free fatty acids are insoluble in water but are soluble in fat solvents or in strong alcohol. For this reason, the acidity in flours is expressed as either fat acidity wherein benzene is used as a fat solvent or it is expressed as alcoholic acidity.

Now let us study the analysis of the various parameters of flour in the following activities and see whether the given samples of flour conform to the laid down standards.