1945, scientists synthesized an artificial substance similar to folic acid in the laboratory. After people take it, it can be converted into folic acid in the body, which can be absorbed and utilized. This artificial substance is named synthetic folic acid. Synthetic folic acid is a stable and cheap substitute for natural folic acid. So far, it is the main or even the only form of folic acid sold in the world, especially in Asian countries. Folic acid and folic acid are both called folic acid in Chinese vocabulary. In fact, there is a big difference between the two. The former can be directly absorbed and utilized, belonging to active folic acid, while the latter belongs to inactive folic acid only after being transformed by human body.
There is a fact that few people know: the ability of human beings to metabolize and synthesize folic acid is far less than that of many animals-for example, only 1% of that of mice! Adults who consume more than 200 micrograms a day will have synthetic folic acid residues, which will lead to a series of intolerance problems such as nausea, bloating and even allergies. Therefore, shortly after completing the industrialization of synthetic folic acid, scientists began to prepare for the upgrading of synthetic folic acid. 1965, the first product containing 5- methyltetrahydrofolate was listed in Europe, which opened the curtain of active folic acid. 5- methyltetrahydrofolate is the main component of natural folic acid, the main component of endogenous folic acid in human body and the target product of folic acid metabolism in vivo. 5- methyltetrahydrofolate also inherits the instability of natural folic acid.
In 2000, scientists achieved a major breakthrough in technology: the calcium salt of 6S-5- methyltetrahydrofolate formed a stable crystal, which solved the problem of product stability in one fell swoop by using the antioxidant effect of lattice energy. This technical threshold is very high! So far, only two companies in the world have such patented technology, a European company and a China company. Crystal form I and crystal form C were invented respectively. C is taken from the initials of China, which reflects the feelings of home and country of China scientists.
The early industrialized active folic acid was produced with synthetic folic acid as the main raw material, supplemented with heavy metals, formaldehyde, p-toluenesulfonic acid and other accessories. The active folic acid obtained in this way can meet the safety requirements of human body, but it is not safe enough for embryos in early life. Embryos have no liver responsible for detoxification, and their tolerance to toxic substances is very limited. Toxic molecules may destroy embryos. The above excipients not only have heavy metal toxicity, but also have genetic toxicity. Crystal C's research team raised the quality standard of products to meet the requirements of fetal safety: firstly, the backward technology using toxic raw materials was eliminated to achieve intrinsic safety; Secondly, the safety of all process impurities was studied, and two kinds of impurities with potential safety hazards were found, and patented technology was developed to remove them, which greatly improved the purity of products. It has reached the level of natural folic acid in performance and safety, but it is obviously superior to natural folic acid in stability-this is natural active folic acid and an upgrade of active folic acid. After testing by authoritative departments, the naturalized active folic acid has reached the level of actual non-toxic substances.
Summary: Animal and plant foods rich in folic acid are the best source of folic acid and the first choice to supplement folic acid. In the cooking process of foods containing folic acid, it is necessary to avoid excessive acid and alkali and long-term heating, and try to protect folic acid from being destroyed. Pregnant women and children in the rapid development stage need a lot of folic acid, so they need to take folic acid supplements to make up for the lack of folic acid in food. Although synthetic folic acid is cheap, it needs to be metabolized first, so human beings have limited benefits from it, and they are also facing potential safety hazards of folic acid residues. Active folic acid can be directly absorbed and utilized, bypassing the metabolic link and solving these problems. However, due to the high impurity content, it is not safe for the fetus to use raw materials with potential safety hazards. Natural active folic acid is high in purity and intrinsically safe, which is an upgrade of active folic acid.
Among them, calcium 6S-5- methyltetrahydrofolate is also called: calcium L-5- methyltetrahydrofolate, calcium 5- methyltetrahydrofolate, methyl folic acid, active folic acid, naturalized folic acid, pentamethyl, calcium folic acid, fruit and vegetable folic acid, calcium 6S-5- methyltetrahydrofolate, calcium N- methyltetrahydrofolate, calcium 6S-5- methyltetrahydrofolate C, CAS.