Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
man·del·ic acid Pronunciation:
man-"del-ik- Function:
noun : an optically active crystalline hydroxy acidC
8H
8O
3 that is obtainable in the levorotatory
D-form from amygdalin by hydrolysis but is usually made in the racemic form by reaction ofbenzaldehyde with hydrocyanic acid and then hydrochloric acid and that is used chiefly in the form of its salts as a bacteriostatic agent for genitourinary tract infections