Potassium Citrate (E332)
<p ><b>Potassium citrate</b> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium" title="Potassium" >potassium</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_(chemistry)" title="Salt (chemistry)" >salt</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid" title="Citric acid" >citric acid</a> with the molecular formula C<sub >6</sub>H<sub >5</sub>K<sub >3</sub>O<sub >7</sub>. It is a white, slightly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygroscopic" title="Hygroscopic" class="mw-redirect" >hygroscopic</a>crystalline powder. It is odorless with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt" title="Salt" >saline</a> taste.
As a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_additive" title="Food additive" >food additive</a>, potassium citrate is used to regulate acidity and is known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number" title="E number" >E number</a> E332. Medicinally, it may be used to control <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_stone" title="Kidney stone" >kidney stones</a> derived from either <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uric_acid" title="Uric acid" >uric acid</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystine" title="Cystine" >cystine</a>.</p>
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Potassium citrate is produced by adding <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bicarbonate" title="Potassium bicarbonate" >potassium bicarbonate</a>or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_carbonate" title="Potassium carbonate" >potassium carbonate</a> to a solution of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid" title="Citric acid" >citric acid</a> until effervescence ceases, filtering the solution and evaporating to granulation.</p>
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Potassium citrate is rapidly absorbed when given by mouth and is excreted in the urine as the carbonate. It is, therefore, effective in reducing the pain and frequency of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urination" title="Urination" >urination</a> when these are caused by highly acidic urine. It is used for this purpose in dogs and cats, but is chiefly employed as a non-irritating <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diuretic" title="Diuretic" >diuretic</a>.</p>
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Potassium citrate is an effective way to treat/manage <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gout" title="Gout" >gout</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrhythmia" title="Arrhythmia" class="mw-redirect" >arrhythmia</a>, if the patient is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypokalemia" title="Hypokalemia" >hypokalemic</a>. In common with other substances that render the urine alkaline, it may be used to reduce the danger of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystalluria" title="Crystalluria" >crystalluria</a> during sulfonamide therapy.</p>
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It is widely used to treat urinary calculi (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_stones" title="Kidney stones" class="mw-redirect" >kidney stones</a>), and is often used by patients with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystinuria" title="Cystinuria" >cystinuria</a>. A study of 500 patients with recurrent stones found that it reduced the frequency of stones from 2 per year to a half per year. </p>
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It is also used in many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_drinks" title="Soft drinks" class="mw-redirect" >soft drinks</a> as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffering_agent" title="Buffering agent" >buffering agent</a>.</p>
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It is also used as an alkanising agent in the treatment of mild urinary tract infections such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystitis" title="Cystitis" >cystitis</a><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_citrate#cite_note-1" >[2]</a></sup></p>