Folic acid

Folic acid (conjugate base folate) is a B vitamin. It is also referred to as vitamin M, vitamin B₉, vitamin B_c (or folacin), pteroyl-L-glutamic acid, and pteroyl-L-glutamate.

Food supplement manufacturers often use the term folate for something different from "pure" folic acid: in chemistry, folate refers to the deprotonated ion, and folic acid to the neutral molecule—which both coexist in water. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology state that folate and folic acid are the preferred synonyms for pteroylglutamate and pteroylglutamic acid, respectively.