Acid value

In chemistry, acid value (AV, acid number, neutralization number or acidity) is a number used to quantify the acidity of a given chemical substance. It is the quantity of base (usually potassium hydroxide (KOH)), expressed as milligrams of KOH required to neutralize the acidic constituents in 1 gram of a sample. The acid value measures the acidity of water-insoluble substances like oils, fats, waxes and resins, which do not have a pH value.

See also: Total acid number

The acid number is a measure of the number of carboxylic acid groups (−C(=O)OH) in a chemical compound, such as a fatty acid, or in a mixture of compounds. In other words, it is a measure of free fatty acids (FFAs) present in a substance. In a typical procedure, a known amount of sample dissolved in an organic solvent (often isopropanol) and titrated with a solution of alcoholic potassium hydroxide (KOH) of known concentration using phenolphthalein as a colour indicator. The acid number for an oil sample is indicative of the age of the oil and can be used to determine when the oil must be changed.

A liquid fat sample combined with neutralized 95% ethanol is titrated with standardized sodium hydroxide of 0.1 eq/L normality to a phenolphthalein endpoint. The volume and normality of the sodium hydroxide are used, along with the weight of the sample, to calculate the free fatty acid value.

Acid value is usually measured as milligrams of KOH per gram of sample (mg KOH/g fat/oil), or grams of KOH per gram of sample (g KOH/g fat/oil).

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