Professional Documents
Culture Documents
a brief guide
A Sight and Life publication
What is
a vitamin?
Vitamins are organic nutrients which are essential for life. The human
body requires these nutrients to ensure normal metabolism, growth and
physical well-being. Most vitamins are not made in the body, or only in insufficient amounts to meet our needs. They therefore have to be obtained
primarily through the food we eat.
Vitamins are classed as micronutrients, and are present in food in minute
quantities compared to macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat).
In industrialized countries, the average adult eats approximately 600g
of food per day on a dry-weight basis, of which less than 1g consists of
vitamins.
Each of the 13 vitamins known today has specific functions in the body,
which makes each of them unique and irreplaceable. No single food contains
the full range of vitamins, and inadequate vitamin intake results in vitamin
deficiency disorders. A balanced and varied diet is therefore
vital to meet the bodys vitamin requirements.
Of the 13 known vitamins, four are fat-soluble, namely vitamins A, D, E and
K. The others are water-soluble: vitamin C and the B-complex, consisting of
vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, biotin and pantothenic acid.
The history
of vitamins
Retinol
-carotene
Calciferol
Tocopherol
Phylloquinone
Thiamine
Riboflavin
Niacin
Pantothenic acid
Pyridoxine
Biotin
Folic acid
Cobalamin
Ascorbic acid
VitaminA
ProvitaminA
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K
Vitamin B1
Vitamin B2
Vitamin B3
Vitamin B5
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B7
Vitamin B9
Vitamin B12
Vitamin C
1912
1926
1941
1931
1934
1931
1936
1920
1897
1929
1922
1918
1831
1909
Discovery
1928
1948
1941
1935
1938
1938
1936
1933
1926
1939
1936
1932
1831
1931
Isolation
1933
1956
1946
1942
1938
1940
1937
1935
1936
1939
1938
1936
1930
1931
Structure
1933
1972
1946
1943
1939
1940
1994
1935
1936
1939
1938
1959
1950
1947
Synthesis
This data has been assembled in good faith and on the basis of extensive secondary research it should be noted, however, that some
sources disagree concerning individual dates.
Alternative name
Vitamin
The discovery
of the concept of
vitamins
The first vitamin to be named was vitaminA. The use of the letter A was
the brainchild of the American biochemist Elmer McCollum. He rejected
Casimir Funks term vitamine in favor of Unidentified dietary factor
fat-soluble A because the substance discovered by McCollum did not contain
nitrogen (amines are organic compounds derived from ammonia, and
always contain nitrogen).
In 1921, the British biochemist Sir Jack Cecil Drummond suggested combining the use of letters of the alphabet with the term vitamin to denote a
range of related organic micronutrients. These micronutrients consequently
became known as vitamins A, B, C and so on.
The eight water-soluble B vitamins were originally thought to be a single
substance class, but were subsequently found to be chemically distinct from
one another, which is why they are differentiated by means of suffixed
numbers B1, B2 and so forth.
Vitamins in
human nutrition
Vitamin
Retinol | -carotene
Vegetable products
Animal products:
Liver, egg yolk, butter, whole milk, cheese
Vegetable productsin the form of carotenoids (provitamin A):
Certain fruits (i.e. melon, apricot), green leafy vegetables (i.e. spinach,
broccoli), carrots, pumpkins, palm oil
Fat-soluble
Vitamin
D2 Ergocalciferol
D3 Cholecalciferol
Vegetable products
Mushrooms > D2
Fat-soluble
Vitamin
Vegetable products
Animal products:
Milk, butter, eggs
Vegetable products:
Vegetable oils, cereal germ, vegetables (i.e. spinach,
lettuce, cabbage, avocados), nuts
Fat-soluble
Vitamin
K1 Phylloquinone
K2 Menaquinones
Vegetable products
Fat-soluble
Vitamin
Thiamine
Vegetable products
Animal products:
Offal (liver, kidneys, heart), fish, meat (porc)
Vegetable products:
Cereals, leafy vegetables, fruits (dried), pulses, nuts
Other:
Brewers yeast
Water-soluble
Vitamin
Riboflavin
Vegetable products
Cereals | Vegetables
Animal products:
Offal (liver, kidneys, heart), eggs, meat, milk, cheeses
Vegetable products:
Cereals, vegetables
Other:
Brewers yeast
Water-soluble
Vitamin
Vegetable products
Animal products:
Offal (liver, kidneys, heart), fish, meat
Vegetable products:
Cereals, pulses, fruit (avocados, figs, dates, prunes), nuts
Other:
Synthesized from tryptophan
Water-soluble
Vitamin
Pantothenic Acid
Vegetable products
Animal products:
Offal (liver, kidneys), meat (chicken, beef), egg yolk, milk, fish
Vegetable products:
Cereals, nuts, vegetables (i.e. white mushrooms)
Other:
Synthesized by intestinal microorganisms
Water-soluble
Vitamin
Pyridoxine
Vegetable products
Animal products:
Chicken, liver (cattle, pig), fish (salmon, tuna, sardines,
halibut, herring)
Vegetable products:
Nuts (walnut, peanut), corn and whole grain cereals,
bread, vegetables, fruit
Water-soluble
Vitamin
Biotin; Vitamin H
Vegetable products
Animal products:
Offal (liver, kidneys), meat (pork, mutton, poultry), egg yolk
Vegetable products:
Vegetables, cereals, nuts (walnuts, peanuts)
Other:
Synthesized by intestinal bacteria
Water-soluble
Vitamin
Vegetable products
Animal products:
Liver, dairy products, milk, egg yolk
Vegetable products:
Dark green leafy vegetables, beets, wheat germ, yeast,
peanuts, oranges
Water-soluble
Vitamin
12
Cyanocobalamin
Animal products:
Offal (liver, kidneys, heart, brain), meat, eggs, fish,
dairy products
Water-soluble
Vitamin
Ascorbic Acid
Vegetable products
Milk | Liver
Animal products:
Milk, liver (ox/calf)
Vegetable products:
Fruits (especially citrus fruits), vegetables, lettuce
Water-soluble
Carbon-neutral production