Tannic Acid can serve as a natural preservative in food production. A 1.5% solution of Tannic Acid is able to suppress the growth rate of E. coli to 99.9%, superior to that of sodium benzoate (98%), and the inhibitory EC50 value of wine acetic acid bacteria is only 0.08mg/mL. In 2021, the European Union settled on accepting Tannic Acid as food additive (E181), and ever since a Spanish olive processing company applied tannic acid, the shelf life of the product was increased from 6 months to 14 months, the level of corruption was reduced by 62%, and the preservative cost was saved by 120,000 euros per year.
In medicine, Tannic Acid can accelerate the healing rate of burn wounds by 40% at 3% concentration through cross-linking collagen properties (compared with silver sulfadiazine test). For Bayer’s hemostatic dressing with Tannic Acid in Germany (patent No. DE102017206846), clinical tests indicated that the hemostatic time was shortened to 23 seconds (58 seconds for the control gauze), and the antibacterial zone diameter against Staphylococcus aureus was 18mm (7mm for blank control). A 2023 Science Translational Medicine paper confirmed that its nanocomplex targeted delivery platform is able to increase the rate of tumor accumulation of the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin by 3.2-fold and reduce cardiac toxicity by 78%.
In terms of environmental protection applications, Tannic Acid’s phenolic hydroxyl group has good chelation ability for heavy metal ions, and 1g of modified tannic acid adsorbent is able to desorb 98.7% Pb² + (initial concentration 50mg/L) from water, the adsorption capacity of which is 489mg/g, and the cost is only 1/3 that of activated carbon. After a lead-acid battery factory in China implemented this technology, the cost of wastewater treatment was reduced from ¥8.6 per ton to ¥2.1, and the reduction of heavy metal sludge emissions was 320 tons per year. U.S. EPA certification suggests that the complex with Fe³⁹ is 41% more effective in breaking down organic dyes than Fenton reagent, and the rate of COD removal was 91% (textile wastewater treatment case).
In the leather industry, Tannic Acid, which is the primary component of vegetable tanning agent, can improve the thermal stability of cowhine collagen fiber from 95℃ to 112℃, and reduce the standard deviation of the shrinkage temperature from 8.3℃ to 2.1℃. A Chinese premium leather fashion enterprise adopted a new tannin-zirconium composite tanning technology, by which the time of the tanning cycle dropped from 72 hours to 28 hours, the level of chemicals was down by 57%, and earned the EU Eco-label certificate at a premium of 35%.
New applications in the textile sector, Tannic Acid as a natural mordant, with iron ions can increase the UPF value of cotton fabric (UV protection factor) from 5 to 45+, washing fastness to ISO 105-C06 standard 20 cycles. A Bangladesh garment factory uses a dyeing process with 1.2% Tannic Acid, which conserves $0.18 per meter of cloth and 37,000 tons of water each year. The tannin flame retardant coating (patent WO2021156453) of Swiss-based company Clariant increases the LOI of polyester materials from 21% to 32%, meeting the EN ISO 15025 fire standard test.
In agriculture, the use of 0.05% Tannic Acid solution could potentially regulate the incidence of gray mold of strawberry by 72% (58% for carbendazim regulation), with dual functionality to inhibit infection by inhibiting the pathogenic bacteria keratinase activity (IC50=28μM) and activation of plant system resistance (4.7 fold increase in PR protein expression). Its addition to the Israeli drip irrigation system increased tomato production by 19% and increased iron application from 12% to 38%. The 2022 Brazilian experiment on soybean planting showed that its addition with rhizobium increased nitrogen fixation by 53% and reduced urea application by 41%.
Amongst the novel materials, the surface area of 3620m²/g (conventional zeolite 800m²/g) and CO₂ adsorption capacity of 7.2mmol/g (25℃/1bar) of the metal-organic framework (MOF) material prepared using Tannic Acid stand out. The tannin-graphene composite electrode prepared by the South Korean scientists increased the energy density of the lithium-sulfur battery to 587Wh/kg (traditional 450Wh/kg), as well as 91% capacity retention rate of 500 cycles. This technology is utilized by a German automaker, and the cost of the power battery pack is reduced by 19% and charging speed is increased by 33%.
The beauty industry has also taken advantage of its astringent property, and toners containing 0.8% Tannic Acid reduce visible pore area by 31% (VISIA-CR) and reduce sebum secretion by 42% by inhibiting 5α-reductase activity (IC50=0.11mg/mL). L ‘Oreal’s patented composition (EP3260107) is Tannic Acid with hyaluronic acid, and the clinical trials have shown 29% improvement in skin elastic modulus and 26% reduction in transepidermal water loss (TEWL) at 8 weeks. The tannic acid industry will be $470 million in 2023 and is expected to grow further at a CAGR of 9.8% from 2030 in the pharma and environmental sectors.