A salt or ester of ascorbic acid (vitamin C); a chemical compound that forms when ascorbic acid combines with a metal or other substance.
From ascorbic (anti-scorbutic, from a- + scorbic, relating to scurvy) + -ate (chemical suffix). The term developed as biochemists studied vitamin C and discovered its chemical forms.
Ascorbates are the reason vitamin C supplements work—your body instantly converts ascorbic acid into ascorbates, which are the form your cells actually use to repair collagen and fight disease.
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