Christina Faithful
Editorial office Frummi
Christina Faithful has been writing for since May 2019 Frummi . She is ambitious to always check the best sources and to write the most qualified texts for our customers.
Folic acid: origin & interesting facts
Things worth knowing about folic acid
Folic acid belongs to the vitamin B group and often appears under the names folate, vitamin B9 and vitamin B11. Strictly speaking, folate and folic acid should by no means be regarded as identical, because folate is the naturally occurring vitamin, while folic acid is only made from synthetic compounds. It is water-soluble and essential for the organism, but cannot be produced independently, but must be supplied through food intake.
Folic acid origin
Folic acid first became the focus of various research lines in the 1930s. Initially, it was also known under the name anti-anemia factor or lactobacillus casei and growth factor, because the vitamin only received its current title in 1941, the common year of its origin. The term comes from Latin, where folium means leaf. A name that was derived from the process of obtaining folic acid, because it was knowingly isolated for the first time from around four tons of dry spinach leaves. Subsequently, in 1996, scholars discovered the structure of the vitamin and studied all of its functions.
production of folic acid
The vitamin is found primarily in spinach and other green leafy vegetables, which became clear when the substance was discovered. Other important products that contain folic acid are:
- Legumes such as peas, lentils or soybeans
- sunflower seeds
- whole grain products
- wheat bran
- Parsely
There are also animal foods such as egg yolk or poultry liver, which also contain folic acid, while table salt or fruit juices often contain synthetic folic acid.
| By Christina Treu – updated 10 Feb 2022 |