壞血病對偏遠水手與士兵這類不易食用新鮮蔬果的人是很常見的。首個嘗試對這種病因提供科學依據的是由英國皇家海軍的一名外科醫生詹姆斯·林德撰寫,那是他於1747年對照實驗的首次記錄,證實新鮮水果能夠治療壞血病。在1747年5月在海上航行期間,所有人都進食完全相同的食物,林德為一些船員每天提供兩個橙子和一個檸檬,而其他船員則繼續飲用蘋果酒、醋、稀硫酸或海水,這是世界上首個受控實驗之一。結果顯示,進食柑橘類水果的船員情況好轉,可以預防這種疾病,而其他船員狀況依然。1753年,林德於其《壞血病專論(Treatise on the Scurvy)》中發表其實驗作品[37][89]。林德的作品之所以延遲出版,部分原因是他的作品中的證據出現互相矛盾的地方,還有一部分原因是海軍方面認為好轉的船員還是很虛弱,因此當時船長認為林德的建議沒有效用,並認為這些果汁無法治療壞血病。此外,新鮮水果於船上保存很昂貴,長時間保存在船上也非常困難,而將其煮沸成果汁雖易於儲存,但當中的維他命會破壞(尤其是在銅製鍋中煮沸)[90]。到了1796年,英國皇家海軍才採用檸檬或青檸的果汁作為海上的標準品,作為壞血病的解決方案。1860年,由於整個皇家海軍在英屬西印度殖民地能夠採得青檸,而檸檬在那邊因沒有檸檬樹而價格比較昂貴,他們因此使用青檸汁,這使美國人對英國人暱稱為「英國佬(limey)(英语:Glossary of names for the British)」作英國人的代名詞[38]。庫克船長在帶領其船員到夏威夷群島,最先論證使用新鮮蔬果跟德國酸菜般的醃漬蔬菜的優點,成功讓他的船員沒有因壞血病而死亡[91]。英國海軍部(British Admiralty)因此授予他一枚獎章。
現在有許多製造維他命C的其他方法仍在研究發展中,當中最值得注意的有以下兩種方法:第一種是將葡萄糖直接發酵成為KGA,美國的Genencor、Eastman、Electrosynthesis、MicroGenomics等公司及美國阿岡國家實驗室(Argonne National Laboratory)正在進行研究;另一種則是把細菌進行基因重組,使它可能用於將葡萄糖一步發酵直接轉化成維他命C。
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