Q 01/05

Which popular pet rodent, like humans, cannot make its own vitamin C and can develop scurvy without fresh vegetables?

A) Hamster

B) Guinea pig

C) Gerbil

D) Fancy mouse

Answer · why

B) Guinea pig

The guinea pig gave science its first lab model of scurvy in 1907, when two Norwegian doctors fed the animals only grains and flour. Most other rodent...

Q 02/05

British sailors earned which nickname from a Royal Navy ration meant to keep scurvy away?

A) Jack Tars

B) Pommies

C) Limeys

D) Redcoats

Answer · why

C) Limeys

Limeys began as 'lime-juicers' in the 1850s. The navy had swapped lemons for a fruit from its Caribbean colonies, unaware that it holds only about hal...

Q 03/05

Cooks squeeze lemon juice, a natural source of vitamin C, over sliced apples to slow which unappetizing change?

A) Browning

B) Wilting

C) Sprouting

D) Softening

Answer · why

A) Browning

Browning begins when enzymes in the cut fruit meet oxygen in the air. Vitamin C is one of the compounds food makers add to sliced produce to hold that...

Q 04/05

Scurvy, the disease caused by a lack of vitamin C, famously attacks which part of the mouth?

A) Tongue

B) Gums

C) Tonsils

D) Palate

Answer · why

B) Gums

Gums can swell until they grow over the teeth, as a chronicler of Magellan's voyage around the world recorded. Sufferers then struggle to eat at all.

Q 05/05

Captain Cook took which sour German staple on his Pacific voyages to protect his crew from scurvy?

A) Sauerbraten

B) Rollmops

C) Sauerkraut

D) Pumpernickel

Answer · why

C) Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut keeps its vitamin C as long as it is not cooked, so it was one of the few preserved foods that could protect a crew on a long voyage.