Vitamin C and scurvy
Vitamina C: del ensayo de Lind al ácido ascórbico
- Date
- 1747-1932 · confidence high
- Place
- Szeged, Hungary (and HMS Salisbury, 1747)
- Credited to
- James Lind (controlled trial, 1747), Albert Szent-Györgyi (isolation, 1928-1932), Charles Glen King
- People
- 👤 Albert Szent-Györgyi1893–1986👤 Charles Glen King1896–1988
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Lind carried out the first controlled clinical trial showing that citrus fruits cure scurvy; Szent-Györgyi isolated hexuronic (ascorbic) acid and demonstrated that it was vitamin C.
King published the isolation almost simultaneously; Szent-Györgyi received the Nobel Prize in 1937.
What it led to
- the end of scurvy in seafaring
- the controlled clinical trial as a method
- industrial synthesis of vitamins (Reichstein process, 1933)
Built on
- sailors' observations
Made possible
- synthetic vitamin C