How is AcroPower preserved?

[R_Mc]

Hi All,

I've been dosing dry amino acids for a while now - to make my life easier I'd like to create an aqueous solution, however, I'm having trouble with preservation at room temperature.

AcroPower has a shelf life of 2 years and does not need to be preserved after opening. I'm hoping to keep my solution for 30 days without spoilage (bacterial growth / mold growth / breakdown).

My solution is 600ml, designed for 20ml daily doses.

What I've tried:
-Tried and failed using 20 drops of iodine / 600ml. The solution went moldy after 9 days.
-In my current trial, I've adjusted the PH to 12. This should make the solution more resilient to molds and bacterias but may cause precipitation of the goodies. It's hard to tell.

Other options:
-sorbic acid (would also need some sort of anti-microbial agent)
-sodium benzoate
-creating a brine
-Garlic extract (anti-microbial)
-Potassium Nitrate? (not sure if this only works on dry products)
-Vinegar / Lemon Juice / Citric acid / lactic acid / ascorbic acid?

Any idea how AcroPower does it? Any advice on reef safe preservatives?

 

[MondoBongo]

i'm not sure for acropower specifically, but i have noticed that some of my vitamins use ascorbic acid, aka vitamin C, to stabilize their mixtures. selcon being the first example i can think of here.

 

[R_Mc]

Thanks mondo, seems that a lot of fruit juice companies prefer things like Lactic Acid / Lemon Juice / Citric or Ascorbic acid. I have a big tub of ascorbic on hand. If the Kalk fails I'll give it a shot next.

 

[RockOn681]

You could use potassium sorbate at a low % to prevent yeast and mold growth. For the microbial aspect you would need to lower the pH to 4.6 or below. Raising the pH to 12 would reduce mold growth but definitely not inhibit it.

 

[R_Mc]

Thanks RockOn - that sounds like a good plan. A combination of potassium sorbate and reduced PH. Since I dose vinegar anyway, do you think I should use that to drop the PH? Or would something like HCL / Ascorbic Acid be preferable?

 

[mikluha]

I use Amino-acid powder and mix of sodium benzoate + potassium sorbate. Mix is ok for couple of month (takes about that time to use it). Without preservative it lasts week or so.
I think sodium benzoate can be used alone since pH of amino-mix is low.