This chapter is entirely devoted to a thorough consideration of ascorbate or vitamin C as far as it is used in the curing of meat.
To introduce our chapter on Vitamin C, meet Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi.
This colourful Hungarian biochemist is one of the main characters in the discovery of this important vitamin.
He “studied medicine in Budapest and Cambridge and completed a doctorate with a thesis on vitamins, led by Hopkins. He worked as a professor at the universities of Pressburg, Prague, Berlin, Hamburg, Leiden and Groningen; in 1947 he settled in the United States, where he taught at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole and headed the Institute for Muscle Research.” (biografiasyvidas.com)
“In 1928 Szent-Györgyi isolated an organic reducing agent, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), present in oranges, lemons and cabbage; and actin, a protein found in muscle and myosin which allows muscle contraction. He also discovered that muscles use ATP to contract as an energy source.” (biografiasyvidas.com)
“For the discovery of vitamin C and for his work on combustion processes of nutrients inside the cells, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937.” (biografiasyvidas.com)
Two quotes by Dr. Szent-Györgyi
“A vitamin is a substance that makes you ill if you don’t eat it.”
“So I set out to study the oxidation system in the potato, which, if damaged, causes the plant to turn brown. I did this in the hope of discovering, through these studies, the key to the understanding of adrenal function.”
The story of bacon is the most fascinating story ever told!
Index:
Concerning the Discovery of Ascorbate
Images
Picture 1: Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi from http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/s/szent.htm