University of Otago research has discovered that vitamin C from Zespri Gold kiwifruit is more effectively absorbed into the body than from a supplement.

The study, published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that mice absorbed vitamin C from the kiwifruit five times more effectively than an artificial vitamin C supplement.

Lead researcher, associate professor Margreet Vissers, says it is important for people to eat vitamin C somehow as the human body does not create any itself.

'Vitamin C is an essential vitamin for humans as it assists in completing a variety of chemical reactions in organs and body tissues essential for daily health,” says Margreet.

'As humans are unable to generate their own vitamin C, vitamin C needs to be sourced from the foods we eat.”

In this study, vitamin C-deficient mice were fed a known quantity of vitamin C over a month, either as Zespri Gold kiwifruit or as an equivalent of artificial vitamin C supplement.

'The results were astounding – the mice that were fed the kiwifruit absorbed vitamin C much more effectively than those given the purified supplement form, and they also retained it in their organs and tissues for longer.”

This research is the first of its kind to demonstrate the effectiveness of a food source of vitamin C in achieving and maintaining optimal vitamin C levels compared to a supplement.