Vitamin C in rose hips

The very high concentration of vitamin C present in rose hips has been observed by a number of Russian workers [see Iwanoff & Bukin, 1937]. 1380 mg. of ascorbic acid per 100 g. were found in R. acicularis and 1540-2580 mg./100 g. in R. dahurica. In a more detailed abstract in the. same publication, Bukin and Zubkova record the interesting observation that rose hips found in northern latitudes contain more vitamin C than those of species growing further south. The richest samples of R. cinnamomea and R. acicularis, growing in the northern and middle parts of the U.S.S.R., contained 4750 mg. of vitamin C/100 g. of raw fruit pulp, equivalent to 14-6 % of the dried pulp, while R. canina, propagated chiefly in the south, contained at best the equivalent of 2-2 % vitamin C in the dried pulp. However, not only were the species growing in the north richer in vitamin C than those in the south, but specimens of the same species contained more vitamin C when grown in a more northerly latitude. For example, R. rubiginosa from Minsk was found to contain 3880 mg./100 g. compared with samples containing 1400 mg./100 g. from Maikop, further to the south. Another observation seemed to indicate that rose hips growing at high altitudes might be richer in vitamin C than the same species lower down. R. canina in the Caucasus mountains was *found with 1480 mg./100 g., while hips of the