Abstract
STATEMENTS have recently appeared in the German scientific press to the effect that German men of science have discovered that the hips of the wild rose are a rich source of the antiscorbutic vitamin C, and that the German State railways have arranged to grow wild roses along the tracks. It is said that half a million plants are to be acquired for this purpose alone, and that other waste lands are to be used in the same way. Actually the discovery that hips are so active is not a new one. It was one of the various materials found to be unexpectedly potent as the result of the introduction of a chemical method of testing for vitamin C. This method was worked out largely in Great Britain. Another fruit found to be unexpectedly active was the blackcurrant. The latter is at least eight times as potent as orange juice or lemon juice, and dried hips about thirty times.
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Supplies of Vitamin C. Nature 146, 426 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146426a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146426a0