They're chemically and structurally very different. One of the reasons why vinegar/acetic acid toughens meat during marination and is not useful at softening pectin in veg and fruits is because mammals and plants do not synthesize vinegar under normal circumstances. They're not used to handling exposure to vinegar. Vinegar is produced by bacteria and yeast during fermentation. It's also chemically and physically very different from citric acid, it contains a single carboxylic acid group while citric acid has 3. It's also very weak at binding and holding calcium and magnesium unlike citric acid making it a weak chelating agent unlike citric acid. I hope this helps, it's a bit more technical that necessary. In general, all the acids we cook with behave very different from each other and it's not useful to view them as one entity.
Beans are one food I've struggled to make. This breakdown gives me confidence to try again and helps me understand where it can go off the tasty path.
Curious: what makes vinegar especially unhelpful for the breakdown of pectin?
They're chemically and structurally very different. One of the reasons why vinegar/acetic acid toughens meat during marination and is not useful at softening pectin in veg and fruits is because mammals and plants do not synthesize vinegar under normal circumstances. They're not used to handling exposure to vinegar. Vinegar is produced by bacteria and yeast during fermentation. It's also chemically and physically very different from citric acid, it contains a single carboxylic acid group while citric acid has 3. It's also very weak at binding and holding calcium and magnesium unlike citric acid making it a weak chelating agent unlike citric acid. I hope this helps, it's a bit more technical that necessary. In general, all the acids we cook with behave very different from each other and it's not useful to view them as one entity.