Experiments confirming the antiscorbutic activity of dehydroascorbic acid and a study of its storage and that of ascorbic acid by the guinea-pig at different levels of intake

Abstract

HIRST AND ZILVA [1933] showed that the antiscorbutic value of dehydroascorbic acid prepared by oxidation of ascorbic acid with iodine was only slightly less than that of the ascorbic acid from which it had been prepared. Having devised a simple method for preparing dehydroascorbic acid free from cont4minating substances [Fox and Levy, 1936] it was thought worth while to study this interesting observation in greater detail. At the same time advantage was taken of the chemical method now available for estimating ascorbic acid to try to learn something about the metabolism of these two substances at different levels of intake.