Vitamins have been defined as organic substances present in minute amounts in natural foodstuffs that are essential to normal metabolism, the lack of which causes deficiency diseases.
The role of many vitamins is to help make possible the processes by which other nutrients are digested, absorbed and metabolized or built into body structures.
The vitamin known to be essential for human being for human growth, maintenance, and health are listed below.
Vitamin B1
Vitamin B2
Vitamin B3
Vitamin B5
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B12
Biotin
Choline
Inositol
Lipoic acid
PABA (p-amino benzoic asid)
Vitamin C
Vitamin A
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K
Vitamins can be further classified according to chemical and physical properties, such as whether they are soluble in aqueous solution or lipid solvents.
Solubility confers on vitamins many of their characteristics. It determines how they are absorbed into and transported around by the bloodstream, whitener they can be stored in the body, and how easily they are lost from the body.
With few exceptions, humans cannot synthesize most vitamins and therefore need to obtain them from food and supplements.
Certain vitamin occur in foods in a form known as precursors or provitamins. Once inside the body, these are transformed chemically to one or more active vitamin forms.
Definition of Vitamin
