This article is about the nutrient. For the musician known as 'Vitamin C' and her self-titled album, see Colleen Fitzpatrick. For a general discussion on the chemical properties of the molecule, see Ascorbic acid
Vitamin C is a water- soluble nutrient essential for life, used by the human body for many purposes. It is one of a number of such key nutrients called vitamins.
To the best of scientific knowledge, all animals and plants synthesize their own vitamin C, except for humans and a small number of other animals, including, apes, guinea pigs, the red-vented bulbul, a fruit-eating bat and a species of trout. This has led a minority of scientists, most notably Linus Pauling to conclude that failure to produce the chemical by an animal species is a genetic defect and to hypothesize that if it were replaced in humans to the level found in animals better health would result.
Vitamin C was first isolated in 1928, and in 1932 it was proved to be the agent which prevents scurvy. In 1937 Albert Szent-Györgyi was awarded the Nobel Prize for this feat.
Vitamin C is a weak acid, called ascorbic acid or ascorbate (an L-enantiomer of ascorbic acid; an L-enantiomer is simply one of two mirror image forms of the same chemical molecular structure, see optical isomers). The active part of the substance is the ascorbate ion, which can express itself as either an acid or a salt of ascorbate that is neutral or slightly basic. Commercial vitamin C is often a mix of ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate and/or other ascorbates. Some supplements contain in part the D-enantiomer, which is useless but harmless. See the ascorbic acid article for a full description of the molecule's chemical properties.