The chemical structures of two compounds formed from an L-dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) solution were identified. They were 3,4-dihydroxy-5-methyl-2(5H)-furanone (MW 130), brown color, and 2-furancarboxylic acid (MW 112), colorless. The DHA solution produced a browner color under nonoxidative conditions than under oxidative conditions. The former increased under nonoxidative conditions during storage. The latter consists of explicit white crystals, and its aqueous solution never becomes' colored during storage. It overlapped partly with the other brown pigment on a column chromatogram of Toyopearl HW-40F