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OneEightActual t1_iucfsts wrote

Reply to comment by KingHenry13th in The Discovery that Lemons Cure Scurvy Caused the Formation of the Sicilian Mafia by agreea

Funner fact: the British were dismayed to find out that limes don't actually prevent scurvy; although they taste sour because of citirc acid, they don't actually contain a lot of Vitamin C. It turns out there was some confusion about the translations for words like limón that might might mean limes, lemons or even both. What we know as limes were just easier to come by in a lot of British colonies, so that's what they used, with inconsistent and sometimes disappointing results.

Even funner still fact: scurvy was widespread in winter months in Europe before potatoes were cultivated from the New World in the 17th Century. Potatoes gained popularity because they grew easily on land that might otherwise be unusable for farming, and potatoes could be stored for months with little effort. Through an accident that wasn't understood until the 20th Century, it turned out that potatoes contained just enough Vitamin C to help stave off the worst of scurvy. At about the same time limes were adopted, potatoes became more common for provisioning ships too, and the reduction in scurvy was misattributed to limes.

Edit: forgot supporting link about Vitamin C in potatoes, sry

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