2 min
The 4 major dates in the history of vitamin C
Do you want to perfect your vitamin C culture? We offer you a retrospective in 4 key dates!
1747 - James Lindt's experiment
The first evidence of the importance of vitamin C in the human diet dates back to the 18th century. In 1747, James Lindt, doctor of the British royal fleet, embarked on a sea voyage lasting several weeks.
But due to a diet poor in fruits and vegetables and difficult living conditions, many sailors quickly became the subject of an illness well known to sailors. Bleeding, extreme fatigue... some members of the crew are on the verge of death.
Lindt then tried an experiment: he administered large doses of lemon juice daily to patients. Within a few days, the entire crew miraculously recovered.
1934 - The scientific discovery of ascorbic acid
It was not until 1914 that a British laboratory scientifically established the link between a molecule contained in certain fruits and vegetables and the treatment of scurvy.
However, it was not until 1928 that Albert Szent-Györgyi, a Hungarian scientist, managed to isolate “hexuronic acid” from animal remains without being able to prove that it was vitamin C. Ascorbic acid was artificially synthesized for the first time in 1934 by Walter Haworth.
1969 – Vitamin C, the hobby horse of double Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling
Invited to a scientific conference at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York in 1969, Linus Pauling created controversy by promoting the medical benefit of ascorbic acid on human health.
Despite the controversy it arouses, the American scientist will continue to test, particularly on his own patients, the potential virtues of vitamin C on human health.
2016 – The omnipresence of vitamin C
In 2016, global production of vitamin C reached 110,000 tonnes. It is omnipresent in the food industry under the name of additive E300 due to its antioxidant and acidifying potential.
At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry has made this product one of the best sellers of the winter period by offering vitamin C in the form of tablets and powder to dilute.
