quinic acid

[ kwin-ik ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a white, crystalline, water-soluble, solid cyclic compound, C 7 H 1 2 O 6 , present in cinchona bark, coffee beans, and the leaves of many plants.

quinic acid

/ ˈkwɪnɪk /

noun

1. a white crystalline soluble optically active carboxylic acid, found in cinchona bark, bilberries, coffee beans, and the leaves of certain other plants; 1,3,4,5-tetrahydroxycyclohexanecarboxylic acid. Formula: C 6 H 7 (OH) 4 COOH

Word History and Origins

Origin of quinic acid¹

1805–15; < Spanish quin ( a ) quinine + -ic

Example Sentences

Quinic acid, which is present in cranberries, is metabolized by the body into hippuric acid, a substance that in very high concentrations is toxic to E. coli, the pathogen most commonly to blame for U.T.I.s.

From The New Yorker

To prevent the formation of uric acid Robin prescribes quinic acid combined with formine or urotropine.

From Project Gutenberg

In 1838 Woskresensky, by oxidizing quinic acid with sulphuric acid and oxide of manganese, obtained a crystalline substance which he called quinoyl.

From Project Gutenberg

Hydroquinone was obtained by Caventou and Pelletier by heating quinic acid, but these chemists did not recognize its true nature.

From Project Gutenberg

In the case of hydroquinone, the original source, quinic acid, was obviously out of question, for economical reasons.

From Project Gutenberg