Who Found Vitamin C, and How Scurvy Became a Supplement Story

Citrus cured scurvy in a naval trial in 1747, but the compound behind it was not identified until 1932. This history runs from amla and chenpi texts through the 1932 papers and the 1937 Nobel Prize to the first industrial synthesis and today's dose limits.

Citrus was shown to cure scurvy in 1747. Nobody identified the compound responsible until 1932, when two research groups published the chemistry in the same year. That leaves 185 years between a shipboard test and the molecule now sold in capsules, and most of the people who used citrus, amla and other fruits in those years had no way to name what they were getting from them. ## Where does vitamin C come from? Humans cannot make their own vitamin C, which is why it has to come from food or a supplement. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements says humans, unlike most animals, cannot synthesize it ([NIH Office of Dietary Supplements](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/)). A Karger Gazette essay adds the mechanism: most animals and plants make vitamin C from glucose, but humans lost one of the enzymes that step needs ([Karger Gazette](https://misc.karger.com/gazette/71/reichstein/art_09.html)). A 2012 history review by Kenneth Carpenter makes the same contrast, noting that many animals, unlike humans, can make their own vitamin C ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1159/000343121)). The food sources the NIH names are citrus fruit, red and green peppers, kiwifruit, broccoli, strawberries and Brussels sprouts. Vitamin C is sensitive to heat, so cooking can reduce the amount in food. The NHS list for the UK adds potatoes and blackcurrants ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-c/)). Three traditional Asian sources are part of this story. Amla, the Indian gooseberry, is *Phyllanthus emblica*, also written *Emblica officinalis*. A 2014 review calls it an important dietary source of vitamin C, and says Ayurveda has used the fruit as a potent rasayana, or rejuvenator ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-014-1984-2)). Cili, *Rosa roxburghii*, is the Chinese prickly pear. A 2026 review describes it as having extraordinarily high vitamin C content and sets out the research on how its ascorbate is regulated ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb48030249)). Two 2026 studies look at the genetics behind that. One in *Plant Science* identified a gene, RrGGP2, that the authors describe as responsible for a large buildup of ascorbate in the fruit, and found that a transcription factor, RrWRKY75, activates it ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2026.113395)). A metabolomics study in *Molecules* compared *R. roxburghii* with a related variety and named vitamin C as one of two metabolites the authors prioritized as key differences. The authors tie that to up-regulated genes in the ascorbic acid pathway ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31050831)). The third is chenpi, dried peel from *Citrus reticulata*. A 2025 review says it has a long history of medicinal and culinary use, with peel aged three years or more valued for therapeutic and nutraceutical applications ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.149543)). Chenpi is a citrus-peel medicine rather than a juice, so it belongs to a different part of the story. Preparation matters too. Chenpi is made through processes passed down for centuries, including repeated picking, peeling, flipping, sun-drying and aging, according to a 2023 China Daily feature on the Xinhui industry ([China Daily](https://www.chinadailyhk.com/article/365518)). A classical amla formula, Amlaki Rasayana, is made by a procedure called bhavana: amla juice is added repeatedly and dried, 21 steps in the version a 2023 study describes, and then honey and ghee are mixed in ([Mony, 2023, Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry](https://doi.org/10.22271/phyto.2023.v12.i2a.14618)). ## The earliest records: amla, citrus peel and the Eastern texts The formula above is attributed to the Charaka Samhita, a Sanskrit medical text. According to the 2023 study, Amlaki Rasayana appears in that text and carries the rejuvenative property called rasayana ([Mony, 2023](https://doi.org/10.22271/phyto.2023.v12.i2a.14618)). Chyawanprash, the Ayurvedic preparation most readers know today, is described in a 2026 study as an ancient Ayurvedic superfood, with antioxidant, anti-ageing and immunity-boosting properties ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2026.113229)). That study tested a commercial chyawanprash in the nematode *C. elegans*, not in people. The authors report that the preparation prevented heat-stress changes in the worms and promoted longevity. The Chinese record is more concrete. According to the China Daily feature, in the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644) the pharmacologist Li Shizhen wrote in his *Bencao Gangmu* (Compendium of Materia Medica) that dried tangerine peel from Guangzhong was considered superior. Guangzhong is today's Xinhui district in Jiangmen, Guangdong ([China Daily](https://www.chinadailyhk.com/article/365518)). The same feature says chenpi dates back more than 1,000 years, and it describes aged peel as a warm, qi-regulating herb that tones the lung and spleen. It also says that the longer the peel is stored, the more therapeutic effects it has. These descriptions come from the feature, not from Li's text. ## What Western sailors knew about scurvy before 1747 The disease was most visible at sea. The NIH fact sheet says that until the end of the 18th century, many sailors on long ocean voyages with little or no vitamin C intake contracted scurvy or died of it ([NIH Office of Dietary Supplements](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/)). According to PubMed, scurvy was a common problem in the world's navies and is estimated to have affected 2 million sailors. It also struck on land, with cases during the Irish potato famine of 1845 ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1159/000343121)). The word moved between languages, from *scorbutus* in Latin to *scorbut* in French and *Skorbut* in German ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1159/000343121)). A Karger Gazette essay says the curative effects of fresh fruit and vegetables were known as early as the 16th century, and that the "antiscorbutic factor" was not isolated until 1932 ([Karger Gazette](https://misc.karger.com/gazette/71/reichstein/art_09.html)). ## How did a shipboard test find the cure? James Lind was a Royal Navy surgeon. In 1747 he was aboard HMS *Salisbury*, a 50-gun ship launched in 1746. The ship was still in the Bay of Biscay area on 20 May 1747, when his experiment began, eight weeks after leaving port ([James Lind Library](https://www.jameslindlibrary.org/articles/james-lind-aboard-salisbury/)). Graham Sutton's commentary reconstructs the voyage from the ship's papers. It also argues that scurvy at sea was a side effect of being able to measure longitude, since ships that could fix their positions could stay out of sight of land for months. By then about a tenth of the crew had scurvy, which gave Lind 30 or 40 men to choose from. He picked twelve for a six-way comparison: cider, elixir of vitriol, vinegar, sea water, oranges and lemons, and a purgative mixture. The two men given citrus were almost recovered by the end of May. One returned to duty, and the other helped nurse the rest ([James Lind Library](https://www.jameslindlibrary.org/articles/james-lind-aboard-salisbury/)). Carpenter's review gives the outcome in one line: only oranges and lemons were effective ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1159/000343121)). Lind's *A Treatise of the Scurvy* was printed in Edinburgh in 1753 ([Wellcome Collection](https://wellcomecollection.org/works/bg2gxrzz)). A cure is not an explanation. For the 185 years between Lind's trial and the 1932 papers, citrus worked without anyone naming the compound that did the work. The NIH says scientists did not prove that ascorbic acid was the active component until 1932 ([NIH Office of Dietary Supplements](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/)). ## Who identified vitamin C, and when? In 1928 Albert Szent-Györgyi reported a new carbohydrate derivative from the chemistry of the adrenal cortex ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1042/bj0221387)). Carpenter's review says he isolated the substance from adrenal glands and called it hexuronic acid ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1159/000343121)). In 1932 the work converged. Svirbely and Szent-Györgyi published "The chemical nature of vitamin C" in the *Biochemical Journal* ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1042/bj0260865)). King and Waugh published a paper with the same title in *Science* that year ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.75.1944.357-a)). Waugh and King later published a paper on the vitamin C activity of hexuronic acid from suprarenal glands ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.76.1983.630)). Karger says the 1932 work isolated the "antiscorbutic factor" and linked it to scurvy in laboratories headed by Szent-Györgyi and King ([Karger Gazette](https://misc.karger.com/gazette/71/reichstein/art_09.html)). Haworth came next. Carpenter's review says Norman Haworth deduced the chemical structure of vitamin C in 1933 ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1159/000343121)). ChemistryViews reports that Haworth and Edmund Hirst also synthesized vitamin C in 1933, probably independently of Reichstein's group ([ChemistryViews](https://www.chemistryviews.org/?p=89733)). The 1937 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Szent-Györgyi "for his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid" ([Nobel Prize](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1937/szent-gyorgyi/facts/)). The Nobel Prize in Chemistry that year went to Walter Haworth, a British chemist, partly for his work on vitamin C ([Karger Gazette](https://misc.karger.com/gazette/71/reichstein/art_09.html)). Two groups publishing in one year, and two laureates for related work in the same year, are why no single name or date fits the discovery. ## How did the first industrial process come about? Tadeus Reichstein, a Polish-born chemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, developed the process that became the first industrial one ([Karger Gazette](https://misc.karger.com/gazette/71/reichstein/art_09.html)). ChemistryViews dates his synthesis to 1933. That year Reichstein, with his doctoral student Andreas Grüssner and Rupert Oppenauer, published the first account of a synthetic derivative of the D-form of ascorbic acid. In 1934 Reichstein and Grüssner published a high-yield synthesis of L-ascorbic acid, the biologically active form ([ChemistryViews](https://www.chemistryviews.org/?p=89733)). The hard step was turning sorbitol, a reduction product of glucose, into L-sorbose, a sugar. Reichstein knew that certain bacteria could make that change, but he could not get a culture that did it efficiently ([Karger Gazette](https://misc.karger.com/gazette/71/reichstein/art_09.html)). The Karger essay tells how he found one. He left a mixture of red wine, vinegar, yeast and sorbitol outdoors, and a fruit fly drowned in it. Long sorbose crystals were growing from one of the fly's legs, and Reichstein isolated the bacteria from them. ChemistryViews describes the next step. Acetone protects four of the sugar's five hydroxyl groups in a single step, so the one remaining primary alcohol can be oxidized to an acid. An acid treatment then removes the protection, and the product is converted to L-ascorbic acid ([ChemistryViews](https://www.chemistryviews.org/?p=89733)). The rest of the route followed. Haworth's team in Birmingham had first made crystals of the levo form of ascorbic acid, the form found in nature, through a painstaking 11-step process. The Karger essay says Reichstein's method was more suitable for industrial production ([Karger Gazette](https://misc.karger.com/gazette/71/reichstein/art_09.html)). Reichstein received the patent for the production process, which still bears his name. ChemistryViews says the process was optimized, sold to Hoffmann-La Roche, and patented in 1933. A 2013 review by Carr and Vissers says vitamin C was first chemically synthesized in the early 1930s ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.3390/nu5114284)). Hoffmann-La Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, launched Redoxon in 1934. The Karger essay calls it the first industrially synthesized vitamin C sold to the public ([Karger Gazette](https://misc.karger.com/gazette/71/reichstein/art_09.html)). ## Did Japan develop its own route? A 1982 paper from Shionogi and Company, Ltd. describes a two-stage fermentation from glucose to calcium 2-keto-L-gulonate, which the authors call an intermediate in the Reichstein synthesis of L-ascorbic acid ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.43.5.1064-1069.1982)). In the first stage, a mutant strain of *Erwinia* converted glucose to calcium 2,5-diketo-D-gluconate, with a 94.5 percent yield after 26 hours. Across four full two-stage runs in conventional fermentors, the average yield of 2-keto-L-gulonate from glucose was 84.6 percent. The paper covers one step of the production chain, not national output. ## Where does supplemental vitamin C come from today? The industrial route began with Reichstein's process, and a Japanese company published a fermentation route to an intermediate in that synthesis in 1982. What the supplement contains is a separate question. Carr and Vissers report that synthetic and food-derived vitamin C are chemically identical ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.3390/nu5114284)). ## How did the science change after 1932? Across the 279 years from Lind's test to the present, the question changed. Lind asked which food cured scurvy. The 1932 chemists asked which compound did it. Later researchers asked how much the body needs, how much it keeps, and whether the source changes the answer. The animal evidence came first. Carpenter's review says Axel Holst and Theodor Frölich fortuitously produced scurvy in the guinea pig, an animal that, like humans, needs vitamin C in its diet ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1159/000343121)). A 1993 trial led by Mangels and colleagues gave 68 men who did not smoke 108 mg a day of ascorbic acid, delivered as tablets, orange segments or juice, or as raw or cooked broccoli, and measured plasma responses across two repletion periods. The authors wrote that ascorbic acid from cooked broccoli, orange juice or fruit, or in synthetic form, "seems to be equally bioavailable." Raw broccoli gave a response about 20 percent lower in the first period, which the authors said is unlikely to matter in mixed diets ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/123.6.1054)). The dose question came next. In 1996, a team led by researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases put seven healthy volunteers in hospital for four to six months on a diet with less than 5 mg of vitamin C a day. They then tested seven daily doses from 30 to 2,500 mg. Plasma levels rose along a sigmoid curve and reached complete saturation at 1,000 mg a day. Neutrophils, monocytes and lymphocytes saturated at 100 mg a day. The team argued that the RDA of 60 mg then in use should rise to 200 mg a day, which it said could come from fruits and vegetables ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.8.3704)). The US figures took a different route. The Food and Nutrition Board, whose 2000 report the NIH fact sheet cites, now sets the adult RDA at 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women ([NIH Office of Dietary Supplements](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/)). Both the 1996 proposal and the 2000 figures are on the record. A 2003 review led by Sebastian Padayatty, with Mark Levine among the authors, reported that intervention studies had shown no change in markers of oxidation or clinical benefit. It also described a sigmoid relationship between oral dose and plasma and tissue levels, and said optimal dosing matters for intervention studies ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2003.10719272)). A 2013 review by Carr and Vissers, from the University of Otago in New Zealand, found that every steady-state human study showed no difference between synthetic and natural vitamin C. Some short-term pharmacokinetic studies showed small, transient differences, which the authors say are likely to have minimal physiological impact ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.3390/nu5114284)). ## What does the evidence show now, and where is it disputed? The settled part is deficiency. The NIH puts total body content at about 300 mg near the point of scurvy and up to about 2 g at the upper end. It also says signs of scurvy can appear within a month of consuming less than about 10 mg a day, and that scurvy is rare in developed countries ([NIH Office of Dietary Supplements](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/)). The contested part starts above that threshold, and the best-known fight is over colds. Hemilä and Chalker's Cochrane review, with searches run to November 2012, pooled 29 comparisons of regular vitamin C against placebo involving 11,306 people. In the general community, the risk ratio for developing a cold was 0.97 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.00). In adults, regular supplementation shortened colds by 8 percent, and in children by 14 percent. Five trials of marathon runners, skiers and soldiers on subarctic exercise gave a pooled risk ratio of 0.48. Therapeutic trials, started at the onset of symptoms, found no consistent effect on duration or severity. The review's own conclusion is that routine supplementation is not justified for the general population, though vitamin C may help people exposed to brief periods of severe physical exercise. It also notes that the question has been a subject of controversy for 70 years ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4)). A 2017 review by Carr and Maggini gives 100 to 200 mg a day as the intake that keeps plasma levels at or near saturation. That is a physiological threshold, and by itself it does not show a health outcome ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9111211)). Iron is the second caution. The NIH says high vitamin C intakes could increase iron absorption from food, and that this does not appear to be a concern for healthy people. In people with hereditary hemochromatosis, chronic high doses could worsen iron overload and damage tissue ([NIH Office of Dietary Supplements](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/)). At high intakes, the complaints are mostly gastrointestinal. The NIH calls vitamin C low in toxicity and lists diarrhea, nausea and abdominal cramps as the most common complaints ([NIH Office of Dietary Supplements](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/)). China's national standard raises a different concern: it says excess vitamin C increases urinary oxalate excretion and the risk of urinary stones ([NHC, WS/T 578.5-2018](https://www.nhc.gov.cn/wjw/yingyang/201805/a61e775d223443ea822a2fb7d69476ed/files/1739783564728_39179.pdf)). The 1996 team found that oxalate and urate excretion rose at 1,000 mg a day. It wrote that safe doses are below 1,000 mg a day, and that daily doses above 400 mg show no evident value ([According to PubMed](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.8.3704)). That is one team's reading from 1996, and it sits beside the official figures in the next section. ## Where do the national bodies agree, and where do they differ? The table sets the adult positions side by side. Each body sets its figures by its own method, so the table reports each one as the body states it. | Body and year | Adult figure (mg a day) | What else the body says | |---|---|---| | NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, citing the Food and Nutrition Board (2000) | RDA 90 for men, 75 for women | Smokers add 35 mg. Tolerable upper intake level 2,000 mg for ages 19 and over. | | EFSA, European Union (2013 opinion) | PRI 110 for men, 95 for women | Average requirement 90 for men, 80 for women. Several health outcomes were considered, but the data were insufficient to set values for them. | | DGE, Germany (reference values, 1st edition 2015, 2nd corrected reprint) | 110 for men, 95 for women | Smokers 155 for men, 135 for women. Pregnancy 105 from the fourth month. Breastfeeding 125. | | SACN, United Kingdom (statement, January 2021) | RNI 40 for adults, both sexes | LRNI 10. The older-adult vitamin values match those for ages 19 to 64, and the statement cites the 1991 COMA values. | | NHS, United Kingdom (page last reviewed 3 August 2020) | 40 for adults aged 19 to 64 | More than 1,000 mg a day can cause stomach pain, diarrhoea and flatulence. | | NHC, China (WS/T 578.5-2018, in force from 1 November 2018) | RNI 100 for adults 18 and over, both sexes | Average requirement 85. Tolerable upper intake level 2,000 mg a day. Pregnancy RNI 100 to 115. Lactation 150. | EFSA and Germany's DGE agree on 110 mg for men and 95 mg for women, each in its own reference report. The NIH figures are lower, at 90 and 75. The UK figure is 40 and China's is 100. The UK figure comes from the SACN statement of January 2021 ([SACN](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6007fdc78fa8f50d8f210fb9/SACN_Nutrition_and_older_adults.pdf)), and China's from the National Health Commission standard WS/T 578.5-2018 ([NHC](https://www.nhc.gov.cn/wjw/yingyang/201805/a61e775d223443ea822a2fb7d69476ed/files/1739783564728_39179.pdf)). The NHS warns about symptoms above 1,000 mg a day, while the NIH sets its upper level at 2,000 mg. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare sets both an estimated average requirement and a recommended intake for vitamin C in its 2025 edition of the Japanese dietary reference intakes, and it sets no tolerable upper intake level for it ([MHLW, 2025 policy points](https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/10904750/001734207.pdf)). ## Why is it interesting? Three things make this history worth more than a timeline. The first is the gap. Citrus cured scurvy in 1747, but the compound was not named until 1932, so a working treatment ran for 185 years without an explanation. The second is the biology. According to the Karger essay, humans lost an enzyme that most animals and plants keep, which is why diet decided survival for sailors on long voyages. The third is the credit. Two groups published the chemistry in 1932, and in 1937 two Nobel prizes went to work that included vitamin C. A single hero story would be easier to tell and less accurate. The Eastern texts add a different kind of interest. Amla and chenpi were used long before vitamin C was identified in 1932. Their records describe formulas and preparation methods, not a nutrient. The Charaka reference and the Ming-era preference for Guangzhong peel show what practitioners did with these foods, even though they predate any knowledge of vitamin C. ## Keep reading For a broader look at immune questions, the [immune health guide](/health/immune-health) is the pillar page. The [quercetin and zinc research article](/health/immune-health/quercetin-zinc-research) covers two nutrients that often come up alongside vitamin C in immune questions, and the [quercetin](/ingredients/quercetin) and [zinc](/ingredients/zinc) monographs cover each one. For the basics, start with the [earlier vitamin C post](/blog/immune-support/vitamin-c-for-immune-system-support). ## The bottom line, and one product If citrus, peppers, kiwifruit, broccoli or strawberries show up on your plate most days, the NIH's adult RDA may already be within reach without a supplement. If they do not, a supplement gives you a known amount on a set schedule. Add up every source, including multivitamins and other products that list vitamin C, and compare the total with the NIH's adult upper level of 2,000 mg a day. When you read a vitamin C label, check three things: the dose per serving, the form, and the number of servings per container. Plain vitamin C is ascorbic acid, which is tart. Some products sell it bound to a mineral, which the Good C product page describes as a buffered form. A 500 mg capsule is a quarter of the NIH adult upper level, so the total from all sources matters more than any single number on the label. The one product here is Good C Buffered Vitamin C 500 mg, sold by Mt. Angel Vitamins as 60 vegetarian capsules. Each capsule has 500 mg of vitamin C from calcium poly ascorbate, which also supplies 57 mg of calcium, plus 100 mg of citrus bioflavonoid complex, 50 mg of hesperidin and 50 mg of rutin. The serving is one capsule, so a bottle holds 60 servings. At the one-time price on the product page, $19.99, that comes to about 33 cents a day. The page's directions say to take one or more capsules daily, and it asks people who are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition to ask a healthcare practitioner before use. The same page says the product is made in Oregon. [See the label and the current price on the Good C product page.](https://www.mtangelvitamins.com/products/good-c-buffered-vitamin-c?utm_source=learn_hub&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=blog_post&utm_content=history-of-vitamin-c-from-scurvy-to-ascorbic-acid) ## Frequently asked questions ### Who first identified vitamin C, and when? No single person did. Albert Szent-Györgyi reported a new carbohydrate derivative from the adrenal cortex in 1928 and called the substance hexuronic acid. In 1932, two groups published the chemistry of vitamin C: one by Svirbely and Szent-Györgyi, and one by King and Waugh. Norman Haworth worked out the structure in 1933. The 1937 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Szent-Györgyi, and the Chemistry prize that year went to Haworth, partly for his work on vitamin C. ### How did a shipboard experiment find the cure for scurvy? In 1747, James Lind, a Royal Navy surgeon aboard HMS Salisbury, gave six treatments to twelve sailors with scurvy, two men per treatment. The two men given oranges and lemons were almost recovered by the end of May. The trial showed that citrus worked, but it could not say why. According to the NIH, scientists did not prove that ascorbic acid was the active component until 1932. ### Why is vitamin C also called ascorbic acid? Vitamin C is the common name for the nutrient, and ascorbic acid is the chemical name for the molecule. ChemistryViews says Haworth and Szent-Györgyi introduced the name ascorbic acid. The term comes from the Latin *a-*, meaning "without," and *scorbutus*, the Latin word for scurvy. The NIH fact sheet also lists L-ascorbic acid as another name for the compound. ### What did the 1930s isolation work change? It turned a food cure into a defined molecule that could be measured, made and dosed. Before 1932, citrus could cure scurvy, but nobody could say which compound did the work. After the chemistry, Reichstein's process made vitamin C on an industrial scale. Hoffmann-La Roche launched Redoxon in 1934, which the Karger essay calls the first industrially synthesized vitamin C sold to the public. Later work asked how much the body needs, and that question led to the dose studies covered above. ### Is supplemental vitamin C the same molecule as vitamin C in fruit? Chemically, yes. Carr and Vissers report that synthetic and food-derived vitamin C are chemically identical. Fruit and vegetables also contain other compounds, mainly bioflavonoids, that some studies have examined for effects on absorption. Their review found no differences in steady-state human studies and small, transient differences in some short-term studies. The 1993 trial by Mangels and colleagues found that vitamin C from orange juice, fruit and cooked broccoli was about as bioavailable as the synthetic form. ### Where does supplemental vitamin C come from today? The industrial route began with Reichstein's process, which was patented in 1933 and sold to Hoffmann-La Roche. A Japanese company, Shionogi, published a two-stage fermentation route to an intermediate in that synthesis in 1982. What the supplement contains is a separate question, and the Carr and Vissers review reports that synthetic and food-derived vitamin C are chemically identical. ### How did a food cure become a daily supplement? Three steps did it. Lind's trial showed that citrus worked. The 1932 chemistry showed which compound was active. The 1934 industrial product put the first industrially made vitamin C on the market, according to the Karger essay. Current US figures set the adult RDA at 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women, with a tolerable upper intake level of 2,000 mg a day. A supplement is one way to meet those figures, and food is the other, as both the NIH and the NHS describe. ### Related reading - [Turmeric and curcumin: from Ayurvedic kitchens to the 1815 isolation](/blog/history/history-of-turmeric-and-curcumin-from-ayurveda-to-isolation) - [Vitamin B12: from a liver cure to cobalamin](/blog/history/history-of-vitamin-b12-from-liver-cure-to-cobalamin) - [Folate and folic acid: from a yeast cure to fortified bread](/blog/history/history-of-folate-from-lucy-wills-to-fortified-bread) - [Elderberry and the cold trials](/blog/history/history-of-elderberry-from-hippocrates-to-syrup) - [the history of vitamin A from night blindness to retinol](/blog/history/history-of-vitamin-a-from-night-blindness-to-retinol) - [The iodine origin story, a goiter parallel to scurvy and vitamin C](/blog/history/history-of-iodine-from-seaweed-to-iodized-salt) - [The vitamin C history post](/blog/history/history-of-vitamin-p-from-citrus-peel-to-flavonoids) - [The vitamin K chick study that bled like scurvy](/blog/history/history-of-vitamin-k-from-danish-blood-clotting-to-k2) - [Why vitamine lost its final e](/blog/history/history-of-the-word-vitamin-from-vitamine-to-the-dropped-e)