Potassium gluconate
299-27-4 · 12H3K5QKN9 · 2,3,4,5,6-Pentahydroxycaproic acid potassium salt · CAS-299-27-4 · D-Gluconic acid (potassium) (Standard) · d-gluconic acid potassium · D-Gluconic acid potassium salt · D-Gluconic acid, monopotassium salt · D-Gluconic acid, potassium salt (1:?) · Gluconic acid potassium salt · Gluconic acid, monopotassium salt · Gluconsan · Gluconsan K · Gluconsan-K (TN) · HSDB 3165 · INS NO.577 · INS-577 · K-Iao · Kali gluconicum · Kalium Gluconate · Kalium-beta · Kaon · Kaon elixir · Katorin · Monopotassium D-gluconate · Potalium · Potasoral · potassium (2R,3S,4R,5R)-2,3,4,5,6-pentahydroxyhexanoate · Potassium D-gluconate · Potassium D-gluconate, >=99% · POTASSIUM GLUCONATE · Potassium gluconate (JAN/USP) · Potassium gluconate, meets USP testing specifications, anhydrous · Potassium gluconate, Pharmaceutical Secondary Standard; Certified Reference Material · Potassium gluconate, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Reference Standard · PotassiumD-gluconate · Potassuril · Sirokal · E577 · 577 · Potassium gluconate · Gluconat de potasiu · Gluconate de potassium · Gluconato de potássio · Gluconato di potassio · Gluconato potásico · Glukonan draselný · Glukonat tal-potassju · Glukonian potasu · Kaaliumglükonaat · Kalijev glukonat · Kalio gliukonatas · Kaliumgluconaat · Kaliumgluconat · Kaliumglukonaatti · Kaliumglukonat · Kálium-glükonát · Kālija glikonāts · Potassium gluconate · Γλυκονικό κάλιο · Калиев глюконатE number E577INS 577CAS 299-27-4
Listed as a sequestrant by Codex and the US.
Listed as sequestrants (US, Codex) · acidity regulators (Codex) · nutrient supplements (US)
- United States: Sequestrant — FDA, Substances Added to Food: POTASSIUM GLUCONATE
- Codex Alimentarius: Sequestrant — CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 577
- Codex Alimentarius: Acidity regulator — CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 577
- United States: Nutrient supplement — FDA, Substances Added to Food: POTASSIUM GLUCONATE

Potassium gluconate is a potassium source, sequestrant and acidity regulator, used in reduced-sodium foods and supplements.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | Permitted, with conditions | 54 food categories no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) Show every food category
| Food Standards Code, Schedule 15, S15—5and 53 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17 |
| Canada | No listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here. | ||
| European Union | Permitted, with conditions | 70 food categories Show every food category
| Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex IIand 69 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Great Britain | Permitted, with conditions | 68 food categories Show every food category
| Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008and 67 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Japan | Permitted, with conditions | Designated additive: Appended Table 1, item 129, グルコン酸カリウム (“Potassium Gluconate” in the unofficial English translation). …Designated additive: Appended Table 1, item 129, グルコン酸カリウム (“Potassium Gluconate” in the unofficial English translation). Standards for use — Specifications and Standards for Foods, Food Additives, etc. (MHW Notification No. 370 of 1959), Part II (Food Additives), F (Standards for use): The Notification sets no standard for use (使用基準) for this additive, so it is not restricted there to particular foods or amounts. Compositional specifications for this additive, in the same Notification, are not imported and are not shown here; nor are the general rules in F 添加物一般, which apply to every additive. | Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act (MHW Ordinance No. 23 of 1948), Appended Table 1retrieved 2026-10-18 |
| South Korea | Permitted, with conditions | Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 1. …Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 1. 일반식품첨가물 (general food additives), 글루콘산칼륨 (“Potassium Gluconate”, the English the Code prints beside it); the Code marks it as also usable as a nutrient fortifier; 3. 영양강화제 (nutrient fortifiers), 글루콘산칼륨; nutrient: 칼륨(K); the Code marks it as also usable as a general food additive. Main use (주용도) of 글루콘산칼륨: 산도조절제. Standard for use (사용기준) of 글루콘산칼륨: (1) [to be used under the general standard for use in II. 2. 1), the minimum amount that achieves the technical effect, with no limit set for this additive in particular] “II. 2. 1)의 규정에 따라 사용하여야 한다.” The Korean is the standard as published. There is no official English translation of the current Code (the English version on MFDS’s website is the 2020 edition and has no legal effect); the English in square brackets is this site’s description of what each sentence does, not a translation of the foods or the levels. Compositional specifications (Part IV) are not imported, nor are the general standards in Part II, which apply to every additive. | Standards and Specifications for Food Additives (식품첨가물의 기준 및 규격), MFDS Notification, Part III (Standards for use, by item)retrieved 2026-10-18 |
| United States | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. | ||
| Codex Alimentarius | Permitted, with conditions | 1 food category no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) Note 631 Except for use in plain fermented milks and drinks based on fermented milks that are heat treated after fermentation conforming to the Standard for Fermented Milks (CXS 243-2003) as an acidity regulator. | CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 577and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-09-07 |
How much is permitted
A listing usually limits the quantity as well as the food. Only one of the forms that takes is a figure: quantum satis and good manufacturing practice permit the amount the technological effect requires and no more, which is a limit rather than the absence of one. Figures below are the range across every food category this page is listed in, and categories differ between regulators — see how much is permitted.
| Australia and New Zealand | — | 54 GMP |
|---|---|---|
| European Union | — | 46 several limits, 2 quantum satis, 22 no quantity stated |
| Great Britain | — | 68 quantum satis |
| Japan | — | 1 no quantity stated |
| South Korea | — | 1 no quantity stated |
| Codex Alimentarius | — | 2 GMP |
No regulator sets a figure for Potassium gluconate. That is not an absence of control: where the listing says quantum satis or good manufacturing practice, the quantity is limited to what the effect requires.
What FDA’s inventory records
This page holds no listing for Potassium gluconate in the parts of 21 CFR this site reads. FDA’s Substances Added to Food inventory does carry it, as POTASSIUM GLUCONATE, pointing at no regulation at all.
Technical effects FDA records: nutrient supplement, sequestrant.
The inventory is an information resource: a row means FDA holds information about the substance’s use in food, not that the substance is listed for that use. It is shown apart from the permissions above and is not counted as a US permission anywhere on this site.
What it is made from
Made by neutralising fermentation-derived gluconic acid with a potassium source.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
- CAS registry number
- 299-27-4
- InChIKey
- HLCFGWHYROZGBI-JJKGCWMISA-M
- PubChem
- CID 16760467
The two specifications, compared
The European Union sets identity and purity by regulation; JECFA publishes its own through FAO, advisory until a country adopts it. Both documents are below in full. These are the parameters each puts a number on.
| Parameter | European Union | JECFA |
|---|---|---|
| Assay | no less than 97 % | no less than 97 % |
| Loss on drying | no more than 3 % | no more than 3 % |
| Lead | no more than 2 mg/kg | no more than 2 mg/kg |
The two documents state the same figures for every parameter compared here.
How the EU defines it
The legal specification an additive must meet to be sold as this E number in the EU — what it is, how it may be made, and the purity it must reach. From Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012.
E 577 Potassium gluconate
Synonyms: Potassium salt of D-gluconic acid
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Einecs
- 206-074-2
- Chemical name
- Potassium D-gluconate
- Chemical formula
- C₆H₁₁KO₇ (anhydrous) C₆H₁₁KO₇ · H₂O (monohydrate)
- Molecular weight
- 234,25 (anhydrous) 252,26 (monohydrate)
- Assay
- Content not less than 97,0 % and not more than 103,0 % on dried basis
- Description
- Odourless, free flowing white to yellowish white, crystalline powder or granules
Identification
- Test for potassium
- Passes test
- Test for gluconate
- Passes test
- pH
- Between 7,0 and 8,3 (10 % solution)
Purity criteria
- Loss on drying
- Anhydrous: not more than 3,0 % (105 °C, 4 hours, vacuum) Monohydrate: not less than 6 % and not more than 7,5 % (105 °C, 4 hours, vacuum)
- Reducing substances
- Not more than 1,0 % (as D-glucose)
- Lead
- Not more than 2 mg/kg
How JECFA defines it
The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.
INS 577 Potassium Gluconate
Synonyms: Potassium D-gluconate; INS No. 577
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 51st JECFA (1998), published in FNP 52 Add 6 (1998) superseding specifications prepared at the 23rd JECFA (1979), published in FNP 12 (1979). Group ADI "not specified" for glucono-delta-lactone and gluconates, excluding ferrous gluconate, established at the 51st JECFA in 1998.
- Chemical names
- Potassium D-gluconate
- C.A.S. number
- 299-27-4 (Anhydrous) 35398-15-3 (Monohydrate)
- Chemical formula
- C 6 H 11 KO 7
- Formula weight
- 234.25 (Anhydrous) 252.26 (Monohydrate)
- Assay
- Not less than 97.0% and not more than 103.0% on dried basis
- DESCRIPTION
- Odourless, free flowing white to yellowish white, crystalline powder or granules
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Acidity regulator, nutrient supplement, yeast food
- METHOD OF ASSAY
- Transfer about 175 mg of the sample, accurately weighed, into a clean, dry 200-ml Erlenmeyer flask, add 75 ml of glacial acetic acid and dissolve by heating on a hot plate. Cool, add quinaldine red TS, and titrate with 0.1 N perchloric acid in glacial acetic acid, using a 10-ml microburet, to a colourless end point. Each ml of 0.1 N perchloric acid is equivalent to 23.42 mg of C 6 H 11 KO 7 .
Identification
- Test for potassium (Vol. 4)
- Passes test
- Test for gluconate (Vol. 4)
- Passes test
Purity criteria
- Loss on drying (Vol. 4)
- Anhydrous: Not more than 3% (105 o , 4 h, under vacuum) Monohydrate: Not less than 6% and not more than 7.5% (105 o , 4 h, under vacuum)
- Reducing substances (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 1.0% calculated as D-glucose (Method I)
- Lead (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 2 mg/kg Determine using an atomic absorption technique appropriate to the specified level. The selection of sample size and method of sample preparation may be based on the principles of the method described in Volume 4, “Instrumental Methods.”
Authorised in other additives, enzymes, flavourings and nutrients
These authorisations are not for use in food. They let this substance be used inside another additive, a food enzyme, a flavouring or a nutrient preparation — often as a carrier — and it reaches food only as part of that product. Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008.
| Part | May be used in | Maximum level | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annex III, Part 1: Carriers in food additives | All food additives | quantum satis | Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex III, Part 1 |
| Annex III, Part 2: Food additives other than carriers in food additives | All food additive preparationsAuthorised as a member of Table 1 of Part 6, listed as "Table 1" Note (1): Except enzymes authorised as food additives. | quantum satis | Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex III, Part 2, via Table 1 of Part 6 |
| Annex III, Part 3: Food additives including carriers in food enzymes | Food enzymesNote (1): Including enzymes authorised as food additives. | In enzyme preparation: quantum satis In final food except beverages: quantum satis In beverages: quantum satis | Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex III, Part 3 |
| Annex III, Part 4: Food additives including carriers in food flavourings | All flavouringsAuthorised as a member of Table 1 of Part 6, listed as "Table 1" | quantum satis | Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex III, Part 4, via Table 1 of Part 6 |
| Annex III, Part 5, Section A: Food additives added in nutrients except in nutrients intended to be used in foodstuffs listed in Part E, point 01.10, of Annex II and foodstuffs for infants and young children listed in Part E, point 13.1, of Annex II | All nutrients | quantum satis | Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex III, Part 5, Section A |
Every name it appears under
61 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
E number
- E577
INS number
- 577
CAS registry number
- 299-27-4
As it appears in regulation
- Potassium gluconate
Other names
- 12H3K5QKN9
- 2,3,4,5,6-Pentahydroxycaproic acid potassium salt
- CAS-299-27-4
- D-Gluconic acid (potassium) (Standard)
- d-gluconic acid potassium
- D-Gluconic acid potassium salt
- D-Gluconic acid, monopotassium salt
- D-Gluconic acid, potassium salt (1:?)
- Gluconic acid potassium salt
- Gluconic acid, monopotassium salt
- Gluconsan
- Gluconsan K
- Gluconsan-K (TN)
- HSDB 3165
- INS NO.577
- INS-577
- K-Iao
- Kali gluconicum
- Kalium Gluconate
- Kalium-beta
- Kaon
- Kaon elixir
- Katorin
- Monopotassium D-gluconate
- Potalium
- Potasoral
- potassium (2R,3S,4R,5R)-2,3,4,5,6-pentahydroxyhexanoate
- Potassium D-gluconate
- Potassium D-gluconate, >=99%
- POTASSIUM GLUCONATE
- Potassium gluconate (JAN/USP)
- Potassium gluconate, meets USP testing specifications, anhydrous
- Potassium gluconate, Pharmaceutical Secondary Standard; Certified Reference Material
- Potassium gluconate, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Reference Standard
- PotassiumD-gluconate
- Potassuril
- Sirokal
Hazard reference values
| Type | Value | Population | Assessed by | Opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADI | not specified | — | JECFA | 1998 |
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Common questions
Assembled from what is above, in the words the questions are usually asked in. Each answer is the same statement the relevant section makes, with the same citations behind it.
- What is E 577?
- E 577 is Potassium gluconate. Potassium gluconate is a potassium source, sequestrant and acidity regulator, used in reduced-sodium foods and supplements.
- What is Potassium gluconate used for in food?
- It is listed as a sequestrant — the role Codex and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Where is Potassium gluconate permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand, the EU, Great Britain, Japan, South Korea and the Codex standard permit it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
- Is Potassium gluconate vegan?
- Yes. Potassium gluconate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.
Sources for this page
- anz retrieved 2026-10-17
- eu retrieved 2026-10-18
- gb retrieved 2026-10-18
- jp retrieved 2026-10-18
- kr retrieved 2026-10-18
- gsfa retrieved 2026-09-07
- euspecs retrieved 2026-10-18
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
Machine-readable: a JSON record of this additive is given on request —how to ask for access.
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