As shown by the graph,
Acidulants: Buffering Capacity vs. pH
, on the following page, the
acidulants with higher molarity like Acetic Acid have a greater buffering capacity. The pKa of the
acidulant is the other factor involved. As shown, the closer the buffered pH is to the pKa of the
acid, the higher the buffering capacity. We can see that Acetic and Lactic Acids have narrower
working ranges than the other acidulants. This is because they are monoprotic acids and therefore
the pH range for dissociation is narrower than in the case of polyprotic acids like Malic or Fumaric
Acids.