What vitamin is also known as ascorbic acid?

What vitamin is also known as ascorbic acid? The answer is Vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is the chemical name for the biologically active form of vitamin C, a water-soluble nutrient found in foods such as citrus fruits, berries, peppers, and broccoli.

Vitamin C helps the body make collagen, a protein important for skin, blood vessels, bones, cartilage, and wound repair. It also supports certain enzymes and contributes to normal immune function. Humans cannot manufacture enough vitamin C because a gene needed for its synthesis is inactive, so it must come from the diet.

A severe deficiency causes scurvy, historically a serious illness among sailors on long voyages. In the 18th century, James Lind showed that citrus fruits could help prevent it. Vitamin C was isolated in 1928, and Albert Szent-Györgyi received part of the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for related work. A common mix-up is treating vitamin C as a single food ingredient: chemically, it is a specific compound, while foods contain many other nutrients too.