Folate
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| Pronunciation | /ˈfoʊlɪk, ˈfɒlɪk/ |
| Trade names | Folicet, Folvite |
| Synonyms | Wills factor, FA, N-(4-{[(2-amino-4-oxo-1,4-dihydropteridin-6-yl)methyl]amino}benzoyl)-L-glutamic acid, pteroyl-L-glutamic acid, folacin, vitamin B9s[1] formerly, vitamin Bc and vitamin M[2] |
| AHFS/Drugs.com | Monograph |
| MedlinePlus | a682591 |
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| Routes of administration | By mouth, intramuscular, intravenous, subcutaneous |
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| Bioavailability | 50–100%[3] |
| Metabolism | Liver[3] |
| Excretion | Urine[3] |
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| Formula | C19H19N7O6 |
| Molar mass | 441.40 g·mol−1 |
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| Density | 1.6±0.1 g/cm3 [5] |
| Melting point | 250 °C (482 °F) (decomposition) |
| Solubility in water | 1.6mg/L (25 °C)[5] |
Folate[6] is a B vitamin, also called Bg or folacin. The man-made form is called folic acid.[7] Folic acid is a dietary supplement which the body converts to folate.
Pregnancy (recommended)
Folic acid should be taken daily by women who are pregnant for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.[8] This helps prevent neural tube defects happening during development. 400 micrograms (mcg) a day is sometimes written using the Greek symbol μ (400μg).[8] The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends 0.4mg of folic acid per day in pregnant women.[9][10]
Women that have previously birthed a child with a neural defect should take 4mg a day instead.[9] Diabetic women need 5mg of folic acid a day.[11] Folate acid is in pregnancy category A in Australia and the America.[9] Folic acid deficiency is common during pregnancy, and is recommended during pregnancy.
Deficiency
Folate deficiency can cause neural tube birth defects and a type of anemia called folate deficiency anemia,[7] because of its role in red blood cell formation.
Taking too much folic acid can hide the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency, if there is one. Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause damage to the nerves. This is a problem especially in older people because their need for some vitamins and nutrients is different.
Use
Folate is essential for the body to make DNA and RNA, and use the amino acids needed for cell division. It helps the body make healthy red blood cells. Folate reduces the risk (chances) that congenital neural tube defects, called birth defects form (for example spina bifida) during pregnancy.[7] This vitamin is truly essential for life.
It is used as a medication to treat megaloblastic anemia in pregnancy.[9]
Source
Folate is in leafy green vegetables (like broccoli, cabbage, kale)[7] legumes and organ meats for example.[12] When cooking, the advice is to use steaming or a microwave oven. This keeps more folate in the cooked foods.[13][14][15]
The body cannot store folate long-term[7] and excess (too much) folate is excreted in the urine, because it is a water-soluble vitamin. A healthy, balanced diet usually provides the recommended daily amount of folate. Adults need 200 mcg (micrograms) of folate a day.[7]
Folate is found in many foods. Dietary sources of folate include:[7]
- brussel sprouts and broccoli
- peas, chickpeas and kidney beans
- cabbage, spinach, kale, and spring greens
- Liver, except in pregnant women
Cereals fortified with folic acid (called fortified foods) are a source of folic acid.
Related pages
- Vitamin B12 and B12 deficiency
- Vitamin A (retinol) and C (ascorbic acid)
- Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
References
- ↑ Folate – Fact Sheet for Health Professionals (30 November 2022)Office of Dietary Supplements, US National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
- ↑ Folic acid: discovery and the exciting first decade. Perspect. Biol. Med. 27 (1) (1983). p. 64–75. doi:10.1353/pbm.1983.0006.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Folic Acid. Drugs.com (23 December 2024)American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
- ↑ Folic AcidThe PubChem Project.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Folic Acid. ChemSrc. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ↑ MeSH Browser. meshb.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Vitamins and minerals - B vitamins and folic acid (in en). nhs.uk (2017-10-23). Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Vitamins, minerals and supplements in pregnancy (in en). nhs.uk (2020-12-02). Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Folic acid pregnancy and breastfeeding warnings. drugs.com.
- ↑ Knowledge and Use of Folic Acid by Women of Childbearing Age -- United States, 1995. www.cdc.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ↑ Longmore, Murray. Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine. Oxford Medical Handbooks (2014). Oxford: Oxford University Press, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-19-960962-8.
- ↑ Centeno Tablante, Elizabeth. Fortification of wheat and maize flour with folic acid for population health outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2019 (7) (1 July 2019). p. CD012150. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012150.pub2.
- ↑ Nutrient Data Laboratory. USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007)USDA.
- ↑ O’connor, Anahad (2006-10-17). "The Claim: Microwave Ovens Kill Nutrients in Food" (in en-US). The New York Times. . https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/health/17real.html. Retrieved 2017-07-10. "spinach retained nearly all its folate when cooked in a microwave, but lost about 77 percent when cooked on a stove".
- ↑ The effect of different cooking methods on folate retention in various foods that are amongst the major contributors to folate intake in the UK diet. The British Journal of Nutrition 88 (6) (2002). p. 681–688. doi:10.1079/bjn2002733.
Folate Media
Chemical structure of the folate family
Biotransformation of folic acid into folinic acids where R = para-aminobenzoate-glutamate
Schematic depiction of the folate and methionine cycles
In the United States and many other countries, wheat flour is fortified with folic acid; some countries also fortify maize flour and rice.
