Gallic Acid: Facts, Uses, Side Effects, Health Benefits, And Foods

Find out the uses, facts, chemical structure, health benefits, food sources, and possible side effects of gallic acid. It is an organic acid, also known as 3, 4, ...

Answer

Gallic acid is an important component of iron gall ink. Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) describes the use of gallic acid as a means of detecting an adulteration of verdigrisand writes that it was used to produce dyes. Galls (also known as oak apples) from oak trees were crushed and mixed with water, producing tannic acid. It could then be mixed with green vitriol (ferrous sulfate) — obtained by allowing sulfate-saturated water from a spring or mine drainage to evaporate — and gum arabic from acacia trees; this combination of ingredients produced the ink.

Gallic acid is a component of some pyrotechnic whistle mixtures.

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