**3. Ascorbic acid**

The most well-known water-soluble vitamin is L-ascorbic acid. It is a white to off-white, water-soluble molecule with a carbohydrate chemical structure that mostly participates in animal species' metabolic activities. L-ascorbic acid is known by the IUPAC nomenclature (5R)-[(1S)-1,2-dihydroxyethyl] -3,4-dihydroxy-furan-2(5H) one. L-threo-hexo-2-enone-1,4-lactone is also known as vitamin C and also known as L-ascorbic acid. Since it refers to all chemical molecules that display ascorbic acid's biological activity, vitamin C is a generic term. Given the critical role L-ascorbic acid plays in maintaining animal creatures' health, vitamin C is regarded as being especially significant. The human body, like that of higher primates, is unable to manufacture vitamin C because it lacks an enzyme. It should therefore consume the required amount through its nutrition on a daily basis [16].

L-ascorbic acid was initially extracted from the adrenal glands in 1928, and it was not until 1932 that it was acknowledged as a treatment for scurvy, a condition characterized primarily by bleeding. In the past, sailors and members of exploration missions have suffered from scurvy because they were denied access to foods like fresh produce—the only natural sources of ascorbic acid—during their lengthy voyages.

L-ascorbic acid is connected to carbohydrates, particularly hexoses, chemically speaking. It is both a potent reducing agent and a mild organic diprotic acid (albeit it is primarily monoprotic). The need of including L-ascorbic acid in one's diet and the health benefits of this vitamin are well known, but only recently these facts have been reinforced to the point where benefits ranging from lifespan to the prevention of the common could have been attributed to it.

Ten thousand tons of L-ascorbic acid are made industrially each year using a method that is partially biological. It is utilized as an antioxidant food preservative in addition to being used in multivitamin preparations and nutritional supplements together with certain of its salts (with Na, Ca, and Mg) [17].

## **3.1 Chemical characteristics**

There are two groups of ascorbic acid's chemical characteristics. The first category is concerned with its acidic characteristic, and the second is with its reducing capacity.
