Ascorbic Acid

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Ascorbic Acid or Vitamin C, a food substance needed by humans to prevent scurvy, a disease of the gums, bones, and blood vessels, and to increase the body’s resistance to infection. Ascorbic acid acts as an antioxidant, a nutrient that chemically binds and neutralizes the tissue-damaging effects of substances in the environment known as free radicals. As a result, ascorbic acid is vital for the growth and maintenance of healthy bones, teeth, gums, ligaments, and blood vessels. Because of its role in the formation of collagen, the body’s major building protein, ascorbic acid is a central component of all body organs.

Ascorbic acid occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables, particularly in tomatoes, citrus fruits, cantaloupe, broccoli, spinach, green peppers, cabbage, and potatoes. The vitamin is easily destroyed by cooking or canning foods and by exposure to air and light. A healthy diet generally contains sufficient quantities of ascorbic acid, but the body requires more of the vitamin after serious injury, major surgery, burns, and when exposed to extremes of temperature. At risk for ascorbic acid deficiency are smokers, women taking contraceptives containing the female sex hormone estrogen, and people who live in cities with high levels of carbon monoxide from traffic. There is conflicting evidence that taking large doses of ascorbic acid will either prevent the common cold or reduce the severity of its symptoms.

Ascorbic acid is an organic compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Pure ascorbic acid is a white solid, and is made synthetically from the sugar dextrose. It is used both in vitamin supplements and as a food preservative.

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