Triethyl citrate is an ester of citric acid. It is a colorless, odorless liquid used as a

food additive Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives have been used for centuries as part of an effort to preserve food, for example vinegar (pickling), salt (salt ...

(

E number E numbers ("E" stands for "Europe") are codes for substances used as food additives, including those found naturally in many foods such as vitamin C, for use within the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Commonly ...

E1505) to stabilize foams, especially as whipping aid for

egg white Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms arou ...

. It is also used in pharmaceutical coatings and plastics. Triethyl citrate is also used as a plasticizer for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and similar plastics. Triethyl citrate has been used as a pseudo-

emulsifier An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Altho ...

in e-cigarette juices. It functions essentially like

lecithin Lecithin (, from the Greek ''lekithos'' "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so ar ...

used in food products, but with the possibility of vaporization which lecithin does not have.

References

Ethyl esters Citrate esters Excipients E-number additives {{ester-stub