ABSTRACT
The reduced and total vitamic C contents in 40 kinds of vegetables and melons and 18 kinds of fruits were measured. Their variations in different seasons were also investigated.The results showed that, many vegetables and melons were rich in vitamin C in different seasons, such as Chinese cabbage, shallot, spinach, chives in spring, cabbage, spinach, radish, sweetbell greenpepper in summer and chili greenpepper, cabbage, spinach, Chinese cabbage, potato, Chinese potato, turnips, etc. in autumn and winter.The contents of vitamin C in some vegetables and fruits are similar to those listed in "The Composition Table of Food" edited by Institute of Health, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing.The content of vitamin C of some species varies with seasons, which in general, is higher in autumn than in winter, and much will be lost during the storage period prior to next spring.There is a wide difference among various kinds of fruits. Jujubes are the richest, then the hawthorns and oranges, while some others are very low.Some vegetables have been subjected to blanching before freezing. The contents of reduced and total vitamin C preserved for 2-3 months' in a cold storage were reduced to 4.6-58.4% or 48.2-66.0% of their original contents.