The Chemical Nature of Vitamin C

King, C. G.; Waugh, W. A.

doi:10.1126/science.75.1944.357-b

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…By early 1932, Svirbely had established that hexuronic acid was the antiscorbutic factor identical to VitC ( 16 , 23 – 25 ). Within 2 weeks of each other in the spring of 1932, first Waugh and King ( 26 ), King and Waugh ( 27 ), and then Svirbely and Szent-Györgyi ( 16 ) published articles declaring that VitC and hexuronic acid were the same compound, thus VitC was subsequently named ascorbic acid ( 28 , 29 ). Later work by Szent-Györgyi and his collaborators, with the diet of Sherman et al ( 30 ) for induction of scurvy in guinea pigs, was the first to demonstrate VitC avitaminosis ( 16 , 24 ) and finally explained its link with the treatment and prevention of scurvy ( 11 ).…”

Section: Vitamin C and Scurvymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Certain Flavonoid IMPS Have a Vital Function?

et al. 2021

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Flavonoids are a vast group of metabolites that are essential for vascular plant physiology and, thus, occur ubiquitously in plant-based/-derived foods. The solitary designation of thousands of known flavonoids hides the fact that their metabolomes are structurally highly diverse, consist of disparate subgroups, yet undergo a certain degree of metabolic interconversion. Unsurprisingly, flavonoids have been an important theme in nutrition research. Already in the 1930s, it was discovered that the ability of synthetic Vitamin C to treat scurvy was inferior to that of plant extracts containing Vitamin C. Subsequent experimental evidence led to the proposal of Vitamin P (permeability) as an essential phytochemical nutrient. However, attempts to isolate and characterize Vitamin P gave confusing and sometimes irreproducible results, which today can be interpreted as rooted in the unrecognized (residual) complexity of the intervention materials. Over the years, primarily flavonoids (and some coumarins) were known as having Vitamin P-like activity. More recently, in a NAPRALERT meta-analysis, essentially all of these Vitamin P candidates were identified as IMPs (Invalid/Improbable/Interfering Metabolic Panaceas). While the historic inability to define a single compound and specific mode of action led to general skepticism about the Vitamin P proposition for “bioflavonoids,” the more logical conclusion is that several abundant and metabolically labile plant constituents fill this essential role in human nutrition at the interface of vitamins, cofactors, and micronutrients. Reviewing 100+ years of the multilingual Vitamin P and C literature provides the rationales for this conclusion and new perspectives for future research.

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Section: Vitamin C and Scurvymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Certain Flavonoid IMPS Have a Vital Function?

et al. 2021

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“…Investigations about biological oxidations and related topics in the first half of the twentieth century have permitted to discover the vitamin C. Among these pioneering works are considered the investigations conducted by Albert Szent-Giörgyi and other scientists ( Szent-Györgyi, 1928 ; King and Waugh, 1932 ; Hirst and Zilva, 1933 ; Hirst et al., 1933 ; Svirbely and Szent-Györgyi, 1933 ; Szent-Györgyi and Haworth, 1933 ; Szent-Gyoergyi, 1963 ), that together permitted to isolate and determine the chemical nature of the antiscorbutic factor, vitamin C. This compound was renamed L-ascorbic acid, which means “against scurvy”. When the molecular structure of AsA was elucidated, it was possible to develop chemical synthesis methods for its in vitro production ( Reichstein et al., 1933 ; Haworth and Hirst, 1934 ; Haworth et al., 1934 ; Reichstein and Grüssner, 1934 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and biochemical strategies for regulation of L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis in plants through the L-galactose pathway

Castro

Castro²,

Cobos³

2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid, AsA) is an essential compound with pleiotropic functions in many organisms. Since its isolation in the last century, AsA has attracted the attention of the scientific community, allowing the discovery of the L-galactose pathway, which is the main pathway for AsA biosynthesis in plants. Thus, the aim of this review is to analyze the genetic and biochemical strategies employed by plant cells for regulating AsA biosynthesis through the L-galactose pathway. In this pathway, participates eight enzymes encoded by the genes PMI, PMM, GMP, GME, GGP, GPP, GDH, and GLDH. All these genes and their encoded enzymes have been well characterized, demonstrating their participation in AsA biosynthesis. Also, have described some genetic and biochemical strategies that allow its regulation. The genetic strategy includes regulation at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. In the first one, it was demonstrated that the expression levels of the genes correlate directly with AsA content in the tissues/organs of the plants. Also, it was proved that these genes are light-induced because they have light-responsive promoter motifs (e.g., ATC, I-box, GT1 motif, etc.). In addition, were identified some transcription factors that function as activators (e.g., SlICE1, AtERF98, SlHZ24, etc.) or inactivators (e.g., SlL1L4, ABI4, SlNYYA10) regulate the transcription of these genes. In the second one, it was proved that some genes have alternative splicing events and could be a mechanism to control AsA biosynthesis. Also, it was demonstrated that a conserved cis-acting upstream open reading frame (5’-uORF) located in the 5’-untranslated region of the GGP gene induces its post-transcriptional repression. Among the biochemical strategies discovered is the control of the enzyme levels (usually by decreasing their quantities), control of the enzyme catalytic activity (by increasing or decreasing its activity), feedback inhibition of some enzymes (GME and GGP), subcellular compartmentation of AsA, the metabolon assembly of the enzymes, and control of AsA biosynthesis by electron flow. Together, the construction of this basic knowledge has been establishing the foundations for generating genetically improved varieties of fruits and vegetables enriched with AsA, commonly used in animal and human feed.

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The Chemical Nature of Vitamin C

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Do Certain Flavonoid IMPS Have a Vital Function?

Do Certain Flavonoid IMPS Have a Vital Function?

Genetic and biochemical strategies for regulation of L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis in plants through the L-galactose pathway

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