The goal of the article was to describe the preparation of carboxyl-functionalized polylactic acid (PLA) through the method of direct melt copolycondensation of lactic and citric acid (CA). In addition, detailed study of copolycondensation process, its limitations and investigation of the reaction products properties are another issue this article deals with. The effect of tricarboxylic CA on the resulting properties of the functionalized lactic acid (LA) polycondesates was studied in a wide range of LA/CA molar ratios. The influence of CA on molecular weight, thermal and physicochemical properties, and chemical structure of the products was investigated, using viscometric measurements of the polymer solutions, gel permeation chromatography, 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, acidity number determination, and Fourier-transform infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopy. The results show the significant effect of CA on the structure and physicochemical properties as well as high efficiency of functionalization. Furthermore, a branched structure was detected at low CA concentrations, while higher CA content leads to termination of the polycondensates chains by citryl units and a reduction in the molecular weight. Here, insights on the characterization methods of PLA-based materials are given by various experimental techniques. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 122: 1275-1285, 2011