What drink has more vitamin C than orange juice?

Orange juice is not even close to the top of the list.

A glass of acerola juice can carry more than 20 times the vitamin C of the same volume of orange juice, and camu camu juice more still. Both are sold, and both are real answers to the question.

What almost nobody tells you is that the number on the fruit and the number in the bottle are rarely the same — and that past roughly 200 mg in one sitting, your body stops keeping pace anyway.

Table of Contents

1. The short answer: six drinks that beat orange juice
2. What is actually in orange juice
3. Acerola and camu camu: the two that win outright
4. Sea buckthorn and the middle of the table
5. The gap between the fruit and the bottle
6. What happens after you open it
7. The ceiling nobody mentions: absorption
8. Bio Absorb Liposomal Vitamin C — when a drink is not the answer
9. Frequently Asked Questions
10. Conclusion

1. The short answer: six drinks that beat orange juice

Ranked by vitamin C per 100 mL, with orange juice sitting at roughly 53 mg as the reference line, the drinks that clear it are these:

• Camu camu juice — around 1,500 mg per 100 mL, inferred from the 70 mL serving that delivered 1,050 mg in a 2008 trial of 20 male smokers.
• Acerola juice — 944 to 1,797 mg per 100 mL across measured samples, the widest-selling of the very high options.
• Sea buckthorn juice — one analysed juice supplied 1,540 mg per litre, or 154 mg per 100 mL, about three times orange juice.
• Guava juice and blackcurrant juice — both typically ahead of orange juice, though published figures for the juices specifically are thinner than for the whole fruit.
• Fortified drinks — any beverage with ascorbic acid added can be set to whatever the manufacturer chooses, which is why some cartons list several hundred milligrams.

Two drinks commonly assumed to beat orange juice do not. Grapefruit juice comes in just below it at 70 mg per ¾ cup against orange juice's 93 mg, and tomato juice is well back at 33 mg for the same serving.

2. What is actually in orange juice

Orange juice earns its reputation on consistency rather than concentration. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements puts a ¾-cup serving at 93 mg of vitamin C, which is 103% of the Daily Value, and the adult RDA at 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women.

Per 100 mL that works out to roughly 53 mg. Direct laboratory measurement of a specific juice can land lower: a 2025 storage study measured cold-pressed orange juice at 30.87 mg per 100 mL by high-performance liquid chromatography.

So a single ¾-cup glass covers the 90 mg and 75 mg adult RDAs on its own. That is the honest case for orange juice, and it is a good one. It is simply not the same claim as being the richest drink available — a title it has never held, and one acerola juice takes by a factor of 20 or more.

3. Acerola and camu camu: the two that win outright

Acerola, also called the Barbados cherry, is the practical winner because it is the one you can actually buy as a drink. Compositional analysis of acerola juice found total ascorbic acid ranging from 9.44 to 17.97 grams per litre, which is 944 to 1,797 mg per 100 mL. Even at the bottom of that range it is roughly 20 times orange juice.

Camu camu, an Amazonian fruit, is higher again. The clearest evidence comes from a human trial in which participants drank 70 mL of 100% camu camu juice daily for 7 days, stated as corresponding to 1,050 mg of vitamin C. That implies close to 1,500 mg per 100 mL — around 30 times orange juice.

Both numbers come with a caveat that matters more than it sounds. A 250 mL glass of acerola juice at the midpoint of that range would carry well over 3,000 mg, which clears the tolerable upper intake level of 2,000 mg a day on its own. These are not drinks you consume by the glass. They are sold in small measures, usually 30 to 70 mL, and that is deliberate.

4. Sea buckthorn and the middle of the table

Sea buckthorn occupies the useful middle ground: noticeably stronger than orange juice, but still drinkable in normal quantities. In a human study of coronary risk factors, the juice used was analysed at 1,540 mg per litre, with a single 300 mL portion delivering 462 mg of vitamin C.

That 154 mg figure is roughly 3 times orange juice, but it varies a great deal by cultivar and processing rather than clustering on one value. It is a reminder that "sea buckthorn juice" is a category, not a specification, and the only reliable number is the one on the particular bottle.

Guava and blackcurrant belong in the same tier. Both fruits are well established as richer in vitamin C than the 70 mg in a medium orange, and both are widely sold as juices and nectars. Published analysis of the juices specifically is patchier than for the whole fruit, so they are worth including by name while treating any single milligram figure with caution.

5. The gap between the fruit and the bottle

Almost every article answering this question quotes figures for whole fruit, where acerola measures around 1,680 mg per 100 g. Fruit is not what you drink.

When researchers measured what was actually in retail cartons, the answer was sobering: ascorbic acid across a set of commercial fruit juices ranged from 2.4 to 43 mg per 100 mL. That upper bound is below the 53 mg per 100 mL implied by the NIH serving figure for orange juice, and it is three orders of magnitude below the headline numbers quoted for camu camu fruit.

Three things close that gap on the way to the shelf. Pressing dilutes. Heat treatment degrades. Storage time does the rest. The NIH makes the same point plainly, noting that the vitamin C content of food is reduced by prolonged storage and by cooking. A superfruit juice can be a weak source of vitamin C by the time you open it, and the label will not necessarily tell you, because the FDA does not require vitamin C to be declared unless it has been added.

6. What happens after you open it

The decline continues in your fridge, and it is faster than most people expect. A 2025 study of cold-pressed orange juice found ascorbic acid dropping 32.59% under refrigerated storage over 12 days, and 80.43% at room temperature over the same period.

Opened commercial juice fares worse still. One analysis found commercial orange juice stored open in a refrigerator for 31 days lost 60 to 67% of its ascorbic acid, while fresh orange juice under the same conditions lost only 7 to 13%, and sealed containers kept at room temperature for four months lost 29 to 41%.

The practical reading is simple. If juice is your vitamin C strategy, freshness is doing more work than the variety of fruit. A carton that has shed 60% of its ascorbic acid and a freshly squeezed orange at 70 mg are closer together than the raw composition tables suggest.

Whole fruit and vegetables sidestep most of this, which is why the NIH puts a single medium orange at 70 mg with no processing step in between. If you would rather close the gap on a plate than in a glass, start with the foods that deliver the most vitamin C.

7. The ceiling nobody mentions: absorption

Even with a perfect bottle, there is a limit to what any drink can do, and it sits at roughly 200 mg per dose rather than in the fruit.

The landmark NIH depletion–repletion study hospitalised seven volunteers for 4 to 6 months on under 5 mg of vitamin C a day, then rebuilt their levels across doses from 30 to 2,500 mg. It found bioavailability complete for a single 200 mg dose, but declining at single doses of 500 mg and above, with the absorbed surplus simply excreted. A later review by the same researchers put the slope in plain percentages: median oral bioavailability of 87% at 30 mg, 80% at 100 mg, 72% at 200 mg and 63% at 500 mg.

This is why "which drink has the most" stops being the useful question somewhere around a few hundred milligrams. A 70 mL shot of camu camu carrying 1,050 mg does not deliver 1,050 mg to your bloodstream. It delivers what the saturable transport in your gut will take, and the rest leaves in urine.

It is also where delivery format enters the picture. A 2025 scoping review screened 321 studies and included 10 head-to-head comparisons of liposomal against non-liposomal vitamin C; 9 of the 10 showed higher plasma bioavailability, with peak concentrations 1.2 to 5.4 times higher and total exposure 1.3 to 7.2 times higher. That evidence is about absorption, not about health outcomes — the review is explicit that the two are different questions, and the outcome question has not been settled. Our complete guide to liposomal vitamin C sets out the full picture, and our comparison of liposomal versus regular vitamin C covers where that line sits.

8. Bio Absorb Liposomal Vitamin C — when a drink is not the answer

Juice is a good way to meet the 90 mg and 75 mg adult RDAs. It is a poor way to hold an intake well above them, because the two constraints in this article — degradation in the bottle and the absorption decline above 200 mg — both work against it.

That is the gap Bio Absorb Nutraceuticals Liposomal Vitamin C Liquid 1000mg (Corn-Free) is built for. It uses liposomal delivery, the formulation category the 2025 scoping review examined — though that review tested a range of different products, not this one — and it is verified corn-free, a genuine distinction, since most commercial ascorbic acid is corn-derived and few brands address it. The same formulation and allergen profile is available as Liposomal Vitamin C Capsules 1000mg (Corn-Free) for anyone who would rather not taste it.

Both are non-GMO, gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free and vegan, made in Canada in a GMP-certified facility, non-irradiated, and third-party tested every batch. The format choice is practical rather than technical: the liquid has a natural orange flavour and mixes with water or juice, which suits flexible dosing; the capsules need no refrigeration and travel well. Both carry a 100% money-back guarantee.

Serving details, current pricing and the full product specification live on the product pages, where they stay current. Keep your total intake under the 2,000 mg adult upper limit, and check with your physician before supplementing if you have kidney disease, a history of kidney stones or haemochromatosis, or take regular medication. None of this replaces fruit and vegetables, which the NIH still calls the best sources of vitamin C.

Frequently Asked Questions

What drink has the most vitamin C?

Camu camu juice, at an implied figure close to 1,500 mg per 100 mL from the trial that used it. Acerola juice is the runner-up at 944 to 1,797 mg per 100 mL and is far easier to find. Both are sold in small measures rather than by the glass, because a 250 mL serving would exceed the 2,000 mg daily upper limit.

Is grapefruit juice higher in vitamin C than orange juice?

No, slightly lower. The NIH lists grapefruit juice at 70 mg per ¾ cup against 93 mg for orange juice. Both comfortably cover the adult RDA in a single serving.

Does orange juice lose vitamin C in the fridge?

Yes, and faster once opened. Cold-pressed orange juice lost 32.59% of its ascorbic acid over 12 days refrigerated, and opened commercial juice held in a fridge for 31 days lost 60 to 67%. Drinking it sooner matters more than choosing a different fruit.

Can you get too much vitamin C from juice?

From ordinary juices, no. From concentrated acerola or camu camu products, yes — the upper limit for adults is 2,000 mg a day from all sources combined, and a single large serving of either can pass it. Above that threshold, gastrointestinal upset becomes common.

Is a high-vitamin-C juice better than a supplement?

For reaching the RDA, juice is fine and brings fibre-adjacent compounds a supplement does not. Past a few hundred milligrams the advantage fades, because bioavailability falls to 63% at a 500 mg dose regardless of the source. At that point the question becomes delivery format rather than fruit, which we weigh up in is liposomal vitamin C worth taking.

Do smokers need more than a glass of juice provides?

Yes. The NIH adds 35 mg a day to the RDA for smokers, taking men to 125 mg and women to 110 mg — more than a single ¾-cup serving of orange juice at 93 mg supplies. A second serving, or a different source, closes the gap.

Conclusion

Several drinks beat orange juice, and acerola juice is the one most people can actually buy, at roughly 20 to 35 times the concentration. But the ranking matters less than the two things it hides: what reaches the bottle after pressing and storage, and what your body accepts once a single dose passes 200 mg. If you are aiming well above the RDA rather than simply meeting it, see the current pricing and serving details for Bio Absorb Nutraceuticals Liposomal Vitamin C.

Research References

1. Vitamin C pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers: evidence for a recommended dietary allowance. Levine M., Conry-Cantilena C., Wang Y., et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Vol. 93, Issue 8 (1996), pp. 3704–3709. In-hospital depletion–repletion study establishing that bioavailability is complete at a single 200 mg dose and declines at 500 mg and above.
2. Do Liposomal Vitamin C Formulations Have Improved Bioavailability? A Scoping Review Identifying Future Research Directions. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, Vol. 137, Issue 1 (2025). Screened 321 studies and included 10; 9 showed higher bioavailability for liposomal ascorbate, with Cmax 1.2–5.4× and AUC 1.3–7.2× higher.
3. New insights into the physiology and pharmacology of vitamin C. Padayatty S.J., Levine M. Canadian Medical Association Journal, Vol. 164, Issue 3 (2001), pp. 353–355. Source of the median oral bioavailability figures of 87% at 30 mg falling to 63% at 500 mg.
4. Antioxidant compounds and antioxidant activity in acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) fruits and derivatives. Mezadri T., Villaño D., Fernández-Pachón M.S., García-Parrilla M.C., Troncoso A.M. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Vol. 21 (2008), pp. 282–290. Measured total ascorbic acid in acerola juice at 9.44–17.97 g/L.
5. Tropical fruit camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia) has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. Journal of Cardiology (2008). [volume and issue not confirmed] Trial in 20 male smokers using 70 mL of 100% camu-camu juice stated as supplying 1,050 mg of vitamin C.
6. Effects of an antioxidant-rich juice (sea buckthorn) on risk factors for coronary heart disease in humans. Eccleston C., Baoru Y., Tahvonen R., Kallio H., Rimbach G.H., Minihane A.M. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, Vol. 13, Issue 6 (2002), pp. 346–354. Analysed the sea buckthorn juice used at 1,540 mg of vitamin C per litre, delivering 462 mg per 300 mL portion.
7. Physicochemical Properties and Storage Stability of Cold-Pressed Orange Juice. Food Chemistry International (2025), pp. 159–166. DOI 10.1002/fci2.70017. Measured cold-pressed orange juice at 30.87 mg of ascorbic acid per 100 mL, with losses of 32.59% refrigerated and 80.43% at room temperature over 12 days.
8. Ascorbic acid content of commercial fruit juices and its rate of loss upon storage. Food Chemistry (2000). [journal details not confirmed] Measured commercial fruit juices at 2.4–43 mg per 100 mL and documented 60–67% losses in opened refrigerated orange juice over 31 days.
9. Health benefits of acerola (Malpighia spp) and its by-products: a comprehensive review. Elsevier (2024). [journal details not confirmed] Reproduces USDA composition for acerola at 1,680 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of fruit.
10. Vitamin C — Health Professional Fact Sheet. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Source of the serving figures for orange, grapefruit and tomato juice, the adult RDAs, the smoker increment, the labelling rule for added vitamin C and the 2,000 mg tolerable upper intake level.

About the Author

David Kimbell is a health writer, digital entrepreneur and former aerospace engineer, based in Ottawa, Canada. He loves translating complex science into clear, actionable guidance for consumers seeking evidence-based solutions.

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Important Disclaimers

Medical Disclaimer: This article provides educational information only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before starting any new supplement, especially if you have existing health conditions, take medications, or are pregnant or nursing.

FDA/Health Canada Statement: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration or Health Canada. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.