Dichlorophenolindophenol reduced and becomes colorless, the resultant increase in light transmittance can be measured using a spectrophotometer. DCPIP can also be used as an indicator for vitamin C. If vitamin C, which is a good reducing agent, is present, the blue dye, which turns pink in acid conditions, is reduced to a colorless compound by ascorbic acid. This reaction is a redox reaction: vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid, and DCPIP is reduced to the colorless compound DCPIPH In this titration, when all the ascorbic acid in the solution has been used up, there will not be any
Vitamin C efficiency decreases as amounts increase. Intravenous administration bypasses this. Doing so makes it possible to achieve plasma concentrations of 5 to 10 millimoles/liter (mmol/L), which far exceed the approximately 0.2 mmol/L limit from oral consumption. The theories of mechanism are contradictory. At high tissue concentrations ascorbic acid is described as acting as a pro-oxidant, generating hydrogen peroxide (HO) to kill tumor cells. The same literature claims that ascorbic acid acts as an antioxidant, thereby reducing the adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Research continues in this field, but a 2014 review concluded: "Currently, the use of high-dose intravenous vitamin