The effect of incomplete diets on the concentration of ascorbic acid in the organs of the rat

I. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS. THE circumstance that certain animals, of which the rat is a typical example, synthesise ascorbic acid in the course of their metabolism raises questions of some scientific interest concerning the nature of its precursors and the seat or seats of its formation in the body. Experience with synthetic diets indicates that its precursors are derived from the main foodstuffs rather than from any minor constituent of the diet, and its constitution suggests of course that these would arise more directly from carbohydrate and perhaps also, less directly, from protein. As a preliminary to any attempt to determine the nature of possible intermediate products it seemed worth while to seek further information con- cerning its primary origin in the diet. Following Neither mannose nor possible precursors of that sugar were present in the diets of which the effects were studied in the present research.