What is Vitamin C?
[[File:L-Ascorbic acid.svg|thumb|ascorbic acid]] '''Vitamin C''', also known as [[ascorbic acid]], is a [[vitamin]]. It is found in fresh [[fruit]]s, [[berry|berries]] and [[vegetable]]s. It is one of the [[water]]-soluble vitamins. Vitamin C is important in wound healing. Without enough vitamin C, a person can get a [[disease|sickness]] called [[scurvy]]. Lack of vitamin C was a serious health problem on long ocean trips where supplies of fresh fruit were quickly used up. Many people died from scurvy on such trips. Most [[animal]]s make their own vitamin C. Some [[mammal]]s cannot. Those that cannot include the main suborder of [[primate]]s, the [[Haplorrhini]]: these are the [[tarsier]]s, [[monkey]]s and [[ape]]s, including [[human]]s. Others are [[bat]]s, [[capybara]]s and [[guinea pig]]s. Vitamin C was first discovered in 1928. In 1932, it was proved to stop the sickness called [[scurvy]]. That fruit was a cure for scurvy was known long before vitamins were known to exist. [[File:Patates à l'eau.JPG|thumb|280px|Potato with peel contains 20 mg/100&nbsp;g of vitamin C]] == History == Through history the need for people to eat fresh plant food to help them get through long [[siege]]s or long sea trips was known by some wise people but was often forgotten. The first attempt to prove this idea was by a ship's doctor in the [[Royal Navy]] called James Lind. At sea in May 1747 he gave some crew members [[lemon]] juice as well as their normal food, while others continued on normal food alone. The results showed that lemons prevented the disease. Lind wrote up his work and published it in 1753. Lind's work was slow to be noticed. In 1795 the British navy adopted lemon or [[lime]] juice as food for sailors. The men hated the sour taste, and had to be forced to take it. Limes, oranges; [[sauerkraut]], salted cabbage, malt, and soup were tried with various effects. [[James Cook]] relied on sauerkraut to prevent the disease on his long voyages of exploration. It was originally thought that only humans got scurvy.