The History of Vitamin C
Lack of vitamin C for long periods of time can result in scurvy. Scurvy was first noticed during long sea voyages. The cause of the disease was not initially known. In 1536, a French explorer had his crew stricken with scurvy while exploring the St. Lawrence River. He learned from local Indians that the tips of young arbor vitae evergreen needles cure scurvy. By 1617, John Woodall, a surgeon for the British East India Company, published a cure for scurvy—lemon juice.
James Lind was another British surgeon. He wrote Treatise on the Scurvy in 1753. James Lind gave some sailors two oranges and one lemon each day, while other sailors received cider, vinegar, or other possible scurvy cures. This may have been the first scientific nutrition experiment in the history of science. He proved that fresh citrus fruit prevented and cured scurvy. By 1795, limes were standard supplements on British ships and scurvy was no longer a problem. British seamen are called “limeys” to this day because of this custom. Captain James Cook sailed to the Hawaiian Islands using sauerkraut for his vitamin C and lost no men to curvy.
DISCOVERY OF ASCORBIC ACID
Until the early twentieth century, the factor in these foods that prevented scurvy was an unknown antiscorbutic (prevents scurvy) factor. In 1912, Casimir Funk introduced his theory that scurvy is due to the absence of an “anti-scurvy vitamine.” This factor was named vitamin C in the 1920s. Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated a substance he called hexuronic acid because it is a six-carbon compound. Hexuronic acid was later renamed ascorbic acid. Albert Szent-Györgyi was awarded the 1937 Nobel Prize in medicine for the discovery of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and its role in preventing scurvy. By 1932, vitamin C was isolated and identified, complete with photographs of the vitamin C crystals. The ascorbic acid molecule was first successfully
synthesized in 1933.
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Lack of vitamin C for long periods of time can result in scurvy. Scurvy was first noticed during long sea voyages. The cause of the disease was not initially known. In 1536, a French explorer had his crew stricken with scurvy while exploring the St. Lawrence River. He learned from local Indians that the tips of young arbor vitae evergreen needles cure scurvy. By 1617, John Woodall, a surgeon for the British East India Company, published a cure for scurvy—lemon juice.
James Lind was another British surgeon. He wrote Treatise on the Scurvy in 1753. James Lind gave some sailors two oranges and one lemon each day, while other sailors received cider, vinegar, or other possible scurvy cures. This may have been the first scientific nutrition experiment in the history of science. He proved that fresh citrus fruit prevented and cured scurvy. By 1795, limes were standard supplements on British ships and scurvy was no longer a problem. British seamen are called “limeys” to this day because of this custom. Captain James Cook sailed to the Hawaiian Islands using sauerkraut for his vitamin C and lost no men to curvy.
DISCOVERY OF ASCORBIC ACID
Until the early twentieth century, the factor in these foods that prevented scurvy was an unknown antiscorbutic (prevents scurvy) factor. In 1912, Casimir Funk introduced his theory that scurvy is due to the absence of an “anti-scurvy vitamine.” This factor was named vitamin C in the 1920s. Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated a substance he called hexuronic acid because it is a six-carbon compound. Hexuronic acid was later renamed ascorbic acid. Albert Szent-Györgyi was awarded the 1937 Nobel Prize in medicine for the discovery of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and its role in preventing scurvy. By 1932, vitamin C was isolated and identified, complete with photographs of the vitamin C crystals. The ascorbic acid molecule was first successfully
synthesized in 1933.
More about C-Vitamin:
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