Chemists at Scripps Research have unveiled a method for turning cheap and widely available chemicals known as dicarboxylic acids into potentially very valuable molecules called lactones.
Materials Science
May 27, 2022
0
125
Have you ever bitten into a nut or a piece of chocolate, expecting a smooth, rich taste, only to encounter an unexpected and unpleasant chalky or sour flavor? That taste is rancidity in action, and it affects pretty much ...
Analytical Chemistry
Oct 20, 2023
1
44
A team led by Prof. Wang Guozhong and Zhou Hongjian from the Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has successfully utilized surface ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 6, 2023
0
31
Have you ever bitten into a plump, red strawberry, only to find it bland and watery? Certain pesticides might be responsible. A team reporting in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has found that two common strawberry ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 27, 2023
0
86
A new study published in Scientific Reports has found that methylene blue, a century-old medicine, has the potential to be a highly effective, broad-spectrum UV irradiation protector that absorbs UVA and UVB, repairs ROS ...
Biochemistry
May 28, 2021
3
792
The latest developments in fluorescence microscopy make it possible to image individual molecules in cells or molecular complexes with a spatial resolution of up to 20 nanometres. However, under certain circumstances, an ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 26, 2021
0
28
The bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is a summer vegetable that graces the tables of many homes and restaurants in Asia. In Okinawa and Kyushu, the southern islands of Japan, the bitter gourds grow easily and have long ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 16, 2020
0
67
A team at the University of California San Diego has developed a wearable, non invasive vitamin C sensor that could provide a new, highly personalized option for users to track their daily nutritional intake and dietary adherence. ...
Bio & Medicine
May 19, 2020
0
105
A boost of vitamin C helped Rice University scientists turn small gold nanorods into fine gold nanowires.
Nanomaterials
Feb 19, 2019
0
41
Today's kiwifruit, a member of the Chinese gooseberry family, contains about as much vitamin C as an orange. This extra boost in vitamin C production is the result of the kiwifruit's ancestors' spontaneously duplicating their ...
Biotechnology
Sep 20, 2018
1
566
Vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, a large number of higher primate species, a small number of other mammalian species (notably guinea pigs and bats), a few species of birds, and some fish.
Ascorbate (an ion of ascorbic acid) is required for a range of essential metabolic reactions in all animals and plants. It is made internally by almost all organisms, humans being a notable exception. Deficiency in this vitamin causes scurvy in humans. It is also widely used as a food additive.
The pharmacophore of vitamin C is the ascorbate ion. In living organisms, ascorbate is an anti-oxidant, since it protects the body against oxidative stress, and is a cofactor in several vital enzymatic reactions.
Scurvy has been known since ancient times. People in many parts of the world assumed it was caused by a lack of fresh plant foods. The British Navy started giving sailors lime juice to prevent scurvy in 1795. Ascorbic acid was finally isolated by 1933 and synthesized in 1934. The uses and recommended daily intake of vitamin C are matters of on-going debate. A recent meta-analysis of 68 reliable antioxidant supplementation experiments involving a total of 232,606 individuals concluded that consuming additional ascorbate from supplements may not be as beneficial as thought.
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