Editing Lactic acid (section)

==History==
Swedish chemist [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]] was the first person to isolate lactic acid in 1780 from sour [[milk]].<ref name="Parks">{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-cancerbio-030419-033556|title=Lactate and Acidity in the Cancer Microenvironment|year=2020|last1=Parks|first1=Scott K.|last2=Mueller-Klieser|first2=Wolfgang|last3=Pouysségur|first3=Jacques|journal=Annual Review of Cancer Biology|volume=4|pages=141–158|doi-access=free}}</ref> The name reflects the ''[[wikt:lact-#Prefix|lact-]]'' combining form derived from the Latin word {{lang|la|[[wikt:lac#Latin|lac]]}}, meaning "milk". In 1808, [[Jöns Jacob Berzelius]] discovered that lactic acid (actually {{sc|L}}-lactate) is also produced in [[muscle]]s during exertion.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Roth|first=Stephen M. | name-list-style = vanc |title=Why does lactic acid build up in muscles? And why does it cause soreness?|website=[[Scientific American]] |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-lactic-acid-buil/|access-date=23 January 2006}}</ref> Its structure was established by [[Johannes Wislicenus]] in 1873.

In 1856, the role of ''[[Lactobacillus]]'' in the synthesis of lactic acid was discovered by [[Louis Pasteur]]. This pathway was used commercially by the German [[pharmacy]] [[Boehringer Ingelheim]] in 1895.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

In 2006, global production of lactic acid reached 275,000 tonnes with an average annual growth of 10%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/publications/nnfcc-renewable-chemicals-factsheet-lactic-acid|title=NNFCC Renewable Chemicals Factsheet: Lactic Acid|publisher=NNFCC}}</ref>