Tannic acid

Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin, a type of polyphenol. Its weak acidity (pK around 6) is due to the numerous phenol groups in the structure. The chemical formula for commercial tannic acid is often given as CHO, which corresponds with decagalloyl glucose, but in fact it is a mixture of polygalloyl glucoses or polygalloyl quinic acid esters with the number of galloyl moieties per molecule ranging from 2 up to 12 depending on the plant source used to extract the tannic acid. Commercial tannic acid is usually extracted from any of the following plant parts: Tara pods (Caesalpinia spinosa), gallnuts from Rhus semialata or Quercus infectoria or Sicilian sumac leaves (Rhus coriaria).