Folic acid is a water soluble vitamin B complex (vitamin B9). Folic acid is essential for a human body for several metabolic processes and it's influence is specially important for replication of genetic material, division of somatic cells and C1 metabolism. Since the human body can not synthetise folic acid it needs to be consumed through various food sources, or in extreme cases via supplements or fortified foods. Folic acid is extremely important during pregnancy since it's deficiency can cause abortion or certain abnormailities in the fetus development. The two most common pregnancy defects of brain and spine include spina bifida and anencephaly, both of which can be altered only before the neural tube closure, i.e. around 24th day after concievement, before woman even realizes she is pregnant. Therefore, supplementation with folic acid is recommended during pregnancy planning. Studies have shown that taking folic acid supplements reduce the risk of neural tube defect from 40 to 80%. Even though the importance of folic acid from the aspect of pregnancy is the most emphasized, folic acid is significant in cardiovascular and neurological health. Folates are widely abundant in foods, but their bioavailability varies from 25 to 50%. It should be noted that numerous countries have introduced obligatory fortification of flour and bakery products with folic acid. Certain alert exist for elderly people since high intake of folic acid masksvitamin B12 deficiency that plays an important role in neurogical and mental functioning, and can be potentialy lethal for this population.