Processed
Ascorbic Acid
Ascorbic acid—vitamin C as a pure crystalline food additive—is an oxygen scavenger, dough oxidant, and colour-protectant used far beyond nutrition fortification. In bakery it accelerates gluten development and gas retention; in cured meat with nitrite it speeds pink colour and helps limit nitrosamines; in fruit purees, beer, and cut produce it slows enzymatic browning. L-ascorbic acid is the common food form; mineral ascorbates and fat-coated grades solve solubility and timed-release needs. Food-grade crystals are white to faintly off-white, sharply sour, and dissolve readily in water. Exposure to heat, light, metal ions, and air destroys activity—dose for process loss, not just label claim. In drinks with benzoate, formulators manage conditions that can form trace benzene. Store cool, dry, and sealed. Distinct from whole-fruit vitamin C claims: this leaf is the refined additive.
Also known as: E300, Ascorbic acid, Ascorbic acid, Asukorubin-san, Kànghuáxuěsuān
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Nutrition
Typical values per 100 g edible portion. Nutrient names open the reference page.
Nutrition Facts
Per 100 g edible portion
Amount per 100 g
- Total Fat 0 g
- Saturated Fat 0 g
- Trans Fat 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Sodium 3 mg
- Salt 0.01 g
- Total Carbohydrate 0 g
- Dietary Fibre 0 g
- Total Sugars 0 g
- Complex / starch 0 g
- Protein 0 g
- Water 0.2 g
This leaf is crystalline L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C), not a fruit and not a sugar. Per 100 g the substance is the vitamin itself (~100000 mg vitamin C). It is not assigned Atwater carbohydrate calories; protein, fat, and sugars are 0. Residual moisture is a few tenths of a gram.
In the kitchen
Culinary partners and combinations that usually underperform with Ascorbic Acid.
History
Szent-Györgyi isolated hexuronic acid, later identified as vitamin C, opening pure ascorbic chemistry.
Reichstein synthesis enabled industrial L-ascorbic acid production for food and pharma.
Bakery use of ascorbic acid as a flour improver spread alongside industrial bread making.
E300 listed ascorbic acid among authorised antioxidants and flour treatment agents.
Encapsulated and ascorbate-salt grades expanded meat cure, beverage, and clean-process applications.