Ascorbic Acid

Ascorbic Acid

 

Ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C, because it is the third vitamin that has been discovered, is an essential nutrient that has played a major role in shaping society and civilization. A vitamin is an amine and is vital to obtain an adequate nutritional yield if you study the word morphology of the word “vitamin.” Ascorbic acid is a substance that aids in the formation of the collagen fibers in the connective tissue. Connective tissues are dispersed throughout the body and are found in blood vessels, gums, the heart, and the blood plasma. If vitamin C is ingested in excess, the excess amount of ascorbic acid will leave the body through renal excretion.   Ascorbic acid is synthesized in the liver through a metabolic pathway including four chemical reactions, involving oxidation and reduction. Ascorbic acid is synthesized from glucose in the liver, yet this is not sufficient enough to establish an ample supply of ascorbic acid in the body to maintain the structural integrity of the connective tissue. Many attempts to isolate ascorbic acid have occurred, yet they were unsuccessful because it is challenging and tedious to isolate the ascorbic acid from the sugars and the sugar-like substances the molecules of ascorbic acid are attached to. A Hungarian doctor and biochemist, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, has extracted a small sample of a crystalline substance from a cow’s adrenal cortex, which he assumed to be a sugar-like hormone he called ignose; however the molecular shape of the substance depicts a ring and it contains six carbon atoms. The presence of OH (hydroxyl) and C=O (carbonyl) groups reveal that the substance is an acid, hexuronic acid, which happens to be the same substance as ascorbic acid, vitamin C. The main issue, in history, in association to this molecule is the disease scurvy, as a result of vitamin C deficiency, which has mainly occurred on sea. During the fast few centuries, many sailors suffered from this disease as a result of a lack of fruits that contain vitamin C, such as lemons and oranges, on board. It was a challenge to replentish the food supply and technologies for refrigeration were not too developed, which means that storing fresh food items on board was a difficult task. Many voyages that have occurred in history involved breakouts of scurvy as a result of the insufficiency of the sailor’s diet, which involved salted meat and other items, without any sources of vitamin C. A series of symptoms, such as weakness, swelling of the arms and legs, diarrhea, muscle pain, hemorrhaging, and lung and kidney problems could arise, even death from infections such as heart failure and pneumonia. Due to the expensiveness and inconvenience of storing fresh fruits and vegetables on heavily manned vessels, it has not occurred until the Chinese have been planting ginger and storing citrus fruits on their vessels and until enough people have realized that all of these symptoms could be alleviated by fresh fruits and vegetables on board. However, the vitamin C count could decline due to heat, light, or long-term storage. James Cook of the British Royal Navy was the first captain to be concerned about maintaining a scurvy-free environment on his ship during his journey to Canada across the Atlantic Ocean through means of personal hygiene and a balanced diet to lower mortally rates and to insure good health of the seamen on board. Sanitary conditions were to be maintained and new products were introduced, except for an ample supply of fruits and vegetables. The daily dosage of vitamin C would be approximately 150 mg and an excess amount will not be added to the blood plasma but will be secreted into the filtrate for renal excretion. Vitamin C also prevents a variety of disorders such as gout, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, obesity, gastric ulcers, herpes simplex infections, diabetes, alcoholism, schizophrenia, coronary heart disease, autoimmune diseases, etc. Vitamin C supplements are also available, yet is it questionable whether they are as effective as naturally occurring vitamin C; naturally occurring vitamin C is absorbed and digested more effectively than its synthetic counterpart because the products such as oranges that contain ascorbic acid also contain substances that that act as coenzymes and aid in the digestion of vitamin C for an increased nutritional yield. Vitamin C is an antimicrobial agent that is why foods that contain vitamin C or vitamin C supplements are recommended during a cold or flu, to stimulate the function of the immune system. Vitamin C also acts as a preservative; preservatives are usually not beneficial for human health, yet their addition is necessary to prevent the development of malignant and infection-causing bacteria such as the Clostridium Botulinum in canned foods and in other products. The botulinum toxin is extremely potent is lethal at very small doses such as 0.03 mg per kilogram of body weight. Botulism is characterized by muscle paralysis due to the protein and neurotoxin, botulinum toxin, interfering with the activity of the neuromuscular junction. Despite all of the other functions, applications, and properties of ascorbic acid, in history it mainly decreased the mortality rate and a variety of symptoms from scurvy. I personally think that this molecule has influenced history and society because the apparent role of vitamin C has counteracted scurvy during voyages to other parts of the world to maintain good health of the sailors on board and to increase the efficiency of the crew. In today’s day, vitamin C is not only ingested for its nutritional value, but it is also used as a preservative and as an antimicrobial agent, which aids in the immune function. Voyages across large bodies of water to other parts of the world has been a prominent aspect of history and civilization, which has been enhanced significantly by this molecule that has been introduced into the sailor’s diet. In conclusion, vitamin C deserves a prominent place in history for alleviating symptoms of a disease that have affected voyages conducted by many people over many years, for providing nutritional yield, for serving as a building block for the most abundant protein in the body, collagen, and for serving as an antimicrobial agent, aiding in the immune function. Sources of vitamin C are available everywhere and in every supermarket today, but we do not realize how much time, effort, and arduous research and experimentation it took to realize that this molecule is one of the most necessary components of our diet.