Vitamin C (ascorbic acid): appearance in nutrition

You will find a number of foods here that can provide significant sources of Vitamin C.

Which foods provide the most Vitamin C? Since oranges and lemons are so obvious, they are generally acknowledged as classic sources of Vitamin C. However, exotic foods are not needed, since many local fruits and vegetables are rich sources of Vitamin C.

Vitamin C in your greens

Sometimes Vitamin C is hidden where one does not expect, such as in many types of cabbages. For example, Brussel sprouts contain 100g and kale contains more than 100mg of Vitamin C. That’s twice the amount of Vitamin C in 100g of orange pulp. Also, broccoli and spinach hide a lot of Vitamin C, even if they don’t crack the 100mg per 100g mark.

Bell peppers: the champion of Vitamin C

Bell peppers (aka sweet peppers) are considered the champions of Vitamin C among vegetables. Depending on their colour and maturity, these vegetables can hide more than 200mg per 100g. Red and yellow bell peppers contain more Vitamin C than green peppers. Of course, this only applies to raw peppers, since boiling or steaming vegetables can significantly reduce the Vitamin C content.

How to make your fruit salad a Vitamin C salad

Naturally, many types of fruit are good for excellent sources of Vitamin C. Next to oranges and bananas, apples are a good foundation for a tasty fruit salad, but the Vitamin C content is only average. If you want to enrich your fruit salad with more Vitamin C, add Johannes berries or kiwis. They also give the salad an interesting swatch of colour to view.

Instead of presenting the salad with a serving of cream, give it a shot of another Vitamin C heavyweight, sea buckthorn juice. Even if the juice does not contain that much Vitamin C as freshly picked fruits, it is still more than classics like oranges and lemons.

You can find more tips and recipes on our Facebook page.

For example, you can learn how to make a tasty pepper soup rich in Vitamin C:

Note: The German Association for Nutrition (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung) recommends that men above 19 years old get 110mg of Vitamin C and women (above age 19) get 95 mg. Source: modified according to Bässler et al. Vitamin-Lexikon, Urban Verlag 2002, p. 246 Please note that the specified values only apply for fresh fruits and vegetables picked under ideal conditions.

Vitamin C loss due to storage and preparation methods

On average, a 30% loss of vitamin C results from storage, long cooking and soaking. Losses are also considerable when prepared food is stored for a long time. Quick freezing can keep the loss of vitamins relatively low, which is the reason that frozen fruits and vegetables exhibit higher levels of Vitamin C than fruits and vegetables that have been stored for several days. Storing potatoes for long periods can reduce the Vitamin C content by up to 75%.