VITAMINS

• Vitamins


  Organic compounds, essential in small amounts, that must be obtained from dietary sources because the body cannot synthesize it
• Vitamin quantities


  Microgram to milligram quantities per day
• Well balanced diet meets body's vitamin requirement
• Pregnant and ill people require supplemental vitamins
• 13 known vitamins


  • β-Carotene
  • Niacin
  • Vitamin B1
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin D3
  • Vitamin B2
  • Vitamin E
  • Vitamin B12
  • Vitamin K
  • Pantothenic Acid
  • Biotin
  • Vitamin B6
  • Folic Acid

  
• Discovery


  When each vitamin was first discovered
• Elucidation of structure


  When the structure of each vitamin was determined
• First synthesis


  When each vitamin was first synthetically produced
• Vitamin B17 / Laetrile / Amygdalin has anti-cancer properties

  
• PQQ may be a novel vitamin as it is essential for normal growth and development, has redox-cycling ability, and protects against neurotoxicity
• PQQ is believed to be the first new vitamin discovered since 1948
• Water soluble vitamins


  Constantly replenished in the body, function as coenzymes for biochemical reactions
• Fat soluble vitamins


  Found dissolved in lipid materials, do not function as coenzymes, rarely utilized by microorganisms
• Absorption


  Water soluble vitamins directly into the blood, fat soluble vitamins first enter the lymph system
• Transport

  Water soluble vitamins travel without carriers, many fat soluble vitamins require protein carriers