Vitamin C: From Molecular Actions to Optimum Intake

Abstract

I. DEFICIENCY OF VITAMIN C A. Introduction Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found widely in plants. Deficiency results in scurvy, a disease with an insidious onset, but fatal results. Vitamin C deficiency is now uncommon, although this was not always true. Scurvy was widespread until recent times, especially in northern latitudes whenever fruits and vegetables were scarce, and was endemic in many parts of Europe. More dramatic was its widespread occurrence whenever small or large bodies of men depended on stored rations, whether during military campaigns or ocean voyages. Large-scale fatalities from scurvy were often the limiting factor in these expeditions. It was so common during sea voyages that scurvy came to be regarded as the dread of sailors. After many false leads, it became clear that consumption of fruits and vegetables could prevent and cure this disease. However, preventive measures were only fitfully adopted by the merchant ships and navies. The widespread provision of antiscorbutic food, particularly citrus fruits, eventually eradicated this disease among sailors. Even so, scurvy was widespread among troops as recently as World War I. In fact, this was the impetus responsible for the studies that led to the identification of the antiscorbutic principle.