Chemistry of ascorbic acid resonance-stabilized nature of its own radical ion, called semidehydroascorbate. The net reaction is: On exposure to oxygen, ascorbic acid will undergo further oxidative decomposition to various products including diketogulonic acid, xylonic acid, threonic acid and oxalic acid. Reactive oxygen species are damaging to animals and plants at the molecular level due to their possible interaction with nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. Sometimes these radicals initiate chain reactions. Ascorbate can terminate these chain radical reactions by electron transfer. The oxidized forms of ascorbate are relatively unreactive and do not cause cellular damage. However, being a good electron donor, excess ascorbate in
Vitamin C -Galactose reacts with the enzyme -galactose dehydrogenase, whereby the lactone ring opens and forms again but with between the carbonyl on C1 and hydroxyl group on the C4, resulting in -galactonolactone. -Galactonolactone then reacts with the mitochondrial flavoenzyme -galactonolactone dehydrogenase. to produce ascorbic acid. -Ascorbic acid has a negative feedback on -galactose dehydrogenase in spinach. Ascorbic acid efflux by embryo of dicots plants is a well-established mechanism of iron reduction, and a step obligatory for iron uptake. All plants synthesize ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid functions as a cofactor for enzymes involved in photosynthesis, synthesis of plant hormones, as an antioxidant