Products Description

Folic acid is a derivative of tetrahydropyrimidine. It was initially isolated from the liver. Later, it was discovered that plants with green leaves have a very high content of it, hence the name "folic acid". It is widely present in meat, fresh fruits, and vegetables, and it is a yellow crystalline powder with no taste or odor. Its sodium salt is easily soluble in water but insoluble in alcohols, ether, and other organic solvents. It is insoluble in cold water but slightly soluble in hot water. It is unstable in acidic solutions and is easily destroyed by light.

Folic acid contains one or more glutamic acid groups. The naturally occurring folic acid is mostly in the polyglutamic acid form. The bioactive form of folic acid is tetrahydrofolic acid. Folic acid is a yellow crystalline substance that is slightly soluble in water, but its sodium salt is highly soluble in water. It is insoluble in ethanol. It is easily destroyed in acidic solutions, and is unstable to heat. It is easily lost at room temperature and is highly susceptible to degradation upon exposure to light.
The importance of folic acid in the diet is gradually being recognized, especially its role in preventing birth defects, cardiovascular diseases, tumors, and neurodegenerative diseases, which has made it an important micronutrient. Folic acid plays a significant role in cell proliferation, promoting human growth and development, and maintaining human health. It can ensure the synthesis of proteins and DNA. Although some foods are rich in folic acid, due to the instability of its physical and chemical structure, it is prone to decomposition, and significant losses occur during food processing, resulting in the inability of the body to obtain sufficient folic acid from the diet to meet daily requirements.

Products Application

Applications in Animals
1. Application of Folic Acid in Pigs
Studies have shown that adding 2.5mg/kg of folic acid to pig feed resulted in a significant increase in the total daily weight gain of piglets compared to the control group. The protein concentration in serum, DNA, RNA and protein content in the liver all increased significantly, and the urea nitrogen concentration in serum decreased extremely significantly. At the same time, it was also found that a higher level of folic acid additive reduced the growth performance of piglets.
Some researchers have found that the supplementation of folic acid has no significant effect on the reproductive performance of first-litter sows, but it significantly increases the folic acid content in the serum of first-litter sows and newborn piglets. As an important auxiliary factor in one-carbon unit metabolism, folic acid can reduce the plasma homocysteine content, thereby improving lipid peroxidation. Proteomics analysis indicates that folic acid has a significant impact on the expression levels and activities of antioxidant enzymes in the liver of rats.
2. Application of Folic Acid in Dairy Cows
The research on folic acid in ruminants is relatively scarce. Generally, it is believed that rumen microorganisms in ruminants can synthesize folic acid and utilize it well, but Girard et al. believe that multiparous dairy cows have a large demand for folic acid during the gestation period and still need to be supplemented from the feed. In the tissue metabolism of high-yielding dairy cows, folic acid and choline can provide one-carbon groups for the body tissues of dairy cows, which are used for energy and protein metabolism, purine and DNA synthesis, thereby improving the production performance of dairy cows. [25-27]
3. Application of Folic Acid in Chicken Breeding
Some researchers added 1.64, 2.14 and 2.64mg/kg of folic acid to the feed of broiler hybrid chickens. The results showed that the addition of 1.64mg/kg significantly increased the feed intake and average daily gain of broiler hybrid chickens, and significantly increased the fructosamine content in their serum. The addition of 2.64mg/kg water had a significant increase in the uric acid content in the serum of broiler hybrid chickens. The addition of folic acid significantly increased the protein content in the serum of 21-day-old broiler chicks. The addition of 3.0mg/kg level also significantly increased the feed intake and average daily gain of broiler chicks, and significantly reduced the feed-to-weight ratio. It was also found that the combination of folic acid and nicotinic acid could significantly increase the average daily gain of broiler chicks; another study showed that the combination of nicotinic acid and folic acid could significantly reduce the abdominal fat weight and abdominal fat rate of broiler chicks, significantly increase the pectoral muscle weight, leg muscle weight and leg muscle rate, and significantly increase the thymus index, spleen index and bursa of Fabricius index of broiler chicks, and could also improve the content of immunoglobulins in serum and significantly reduce the cholesterol content in serum, and could improve the apparent digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, organic matter and nitrogen-free extract. [28]
Medical Applications
Existing research reports all indicate that folic acid plays an extremely important role in human health. Folic acid deficiency can lead to neural tube defects in newborns, thromboembolic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, anorexia and neurotic anorexia, megaloblastic anemia, vascular dementia in the elderly, depression, etc., which pose risks of various diseases.
1. Investigation on the Impact of Folic Acid on Neural Tube Defects in Newborns [29-31]
Some scholars' research on the supplementation of folic acid by Americans through diet and nutritional supplements from 2003 to 2006 shows that the intake of folic acid by women of childbearing age needs to be improved. In regions with a high incidence of neural tube defects, the daily folic acid provided to pregnant women is only 100 μg, far below the daily requirement for pregnant women.
In the investigation and research on the impact of the intake of folic acid in the diet of lactating women on the blood folic acid content, it was concluded that lactating women should consume 400 μg of folic acid per day. Folic acid plays an important role in regulating neural generation and programmed cell death.
The fortification and supplementation of folic acid in American food have reduced the birth rate of infants with neural closure defects by 19%, but it does not rule out the influence of other factors on this reduction.
0.4 mg of folic acid is used to prevent neural tube defects in the fetus. The Sliyan folic acid project study, verified by a national 250,000 case prevention of neural tube defects cooperation project between China and the United States, shows that if pregnant women take 0.4 mg of folic acid during pregnancy, the rate of neural tube defects in the fetus can be reduced by 85%. This result has been widely applied in 50+ countries around the world. 5 mg of folic acid is used to treat female anemia. Consumers must carefully read the instructions when purchasing and make different choices according to different situations.
2. Research on the Impact of Folic Acid on Other Human Diseases
In addition to being effective in preventing neural tube defects in infants, folic acid also plays a certain role in the prevention of some common human diseases.
3. Research on the Impact of Folic Acid on Other Diseases
The increase in homocysteine concentration in plasma can lead to thromboembolic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, anorexia and neurotic anorexia, vascular dementia in the elderly, depression, etc. In the metabolic cycle of homocysteine, folic acid is an important cofactor. Folic acid is activated and can be converted into 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolic acid, providing methyl groups for the conversion of homocysteine to methionine. Folic acid deficiency causes a large amount of homocysteine to accumulate and be excreted outside the cells, resulting in an increase in the concentration of homocysteine in plasma, leading to diseases. Studies have shown that the consumption of folic acid-enriched food has a fundamental connection with the increase in serum folic acid levels in middle-aged and elderly people. Folic acid can reduce the risk of developing gout in people without a history of gout. Folic acid deficiency can cause damage to multiple systems in the body, mainly including colitis, chronic atrophic gastritis, and increasing the risk of colon cancer and gastric cancer. Folic acid supplements can inhibit the recurrence rate of colorectal cancer.
Studies have shown that a certain concentration of folic acid can inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer cells by affecting folic acid metabolism. Folic acid may enhance the cytotoxic effect of chemotherapy drugs on ovarian cancer cells, thereby enhancing the sensitivity of ovarian cancer to chemotherapy.