Folic Acid

Folic Acid (Folate or Pteroylglutamic acid)
Folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin commonly found in green, leafy vegetables that is readily destroyed by both air and heat.
Folate is generally used when referring to protein-bound or conjugated forms of folic acid found in food. Pteroylglutamic acid is the chemical compound commonly used as a Folic acid supplement.

Functions of Folic acid:

• Precursor of tetrahydrofolic acid (THF), a carrier of methyl groups in trans-methylation reactions
• Involved in the synthesis of DNA and RNA
• Synthesis of purines, guanine, adenine, thymine and pyrimidines
• Needed for DNA replication and repair, maintenance of the genome and regulation of gene expression
• Plays a role in the biosynthesis of heme and hemoglobin
• Essential for the formation and maturation of red and white blood cells from bone marrow stem cells
• Helps convert homocysteine to methionine, ethanolamine to choline, histidine to glutamic acid and serine to glycine.