Vitamin and C dissolve into the water when a vegetable is boiled, and are then lost when the water is discarded. The body's stores for different vitamins vary widely; vitamins A, D, and B are stored in significant amounts, mainly in the liver, and an adult's diet may be deficient in vitamins A and D for many months and B in some cases for years, before developing a deficiency condition. However, vitamin B (niacin and niacinamide) is not stored in significant amounts, so stores may last only a couple of weeks. For vitamin C, the first symptoms of scurvy in experimental
Scurvy Rose patented a method used to preserve citrus juice without alcohol in 1867, creating a concentrated drink known as Rose's lime juice. The Merchant Shipping Act of 1867 required all ships of the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy to provide a daily lime ration to sailors to prevent scurvy. The product became nearly ubiquitous, hence the term "limey", first for British sailors, then for English immigrants within the former British colonies (particularly America, New Zealand and South Africa), and finally, in old American slang, all British people. The plant "Cochlearia officinalis", also known as "Common Scurvygrass", acquired its common name