VITAMIN C

Vitamin C, also referred to as ascorbic acid or ascorbate, belongs to the water-soluble class of vitamins. Humans are one of the few species who lack the enzyme to convert glucose to vitamin C (13). Ascorbic acid (AA) is an odorless, white solid having the chemical formula C6H8O6. The vitamin is easily oxidized to form dehydroascorbic acid (DHAA), and thus oxidation is readily reversible. Vitamin C is a generic name for all compounds that exhibit the same biologic activity as AA. Consequently, the term includes both AA and DHAA. The importance of vitamin C was first was discovered in 1747. During the 16th century numerous sea voyagers died due to the disease known as scurvy. James Lind found that men suffering from scurvy were cured when given oranges and lemons and he published his findings in the Treatise of the Scurvy in 1753. He developed a hypothesis based upon the results he observed; although his ideas were incorrect, he was the first person to understand the importance of what would later be called vitamin C. These findings were not widely accepted by the rest of the world and scurvy continued to lead to wide spread death throughout the 19th century (17). Finally, in 1907 scurvy was induced in lab animals and this opened a new opportunity to understand the disease. Around 1930 two scientists working independently isolated and published their findings on vitamin C. The men found that vitamin C prevented and treated scurvy. The term ascorbic acid was adopted to describe its ability to prevent scurvy. The vitamin was then synthesized in the laboratory during 1933 (5).