BIOCHEMISTRY - Textbook - Ostapchenko L. I. - 2012

Chapter 8. VITAMINS

8.1. Classification and General Properties of Vitamins

8.1.2. History of the Discovery of Vitamins

The discovery of Vitamins is closely linked to The Study of diseases that claimed countless lives across the globe. During long sea voyages, travelers fell victim to scurvy, which manifested as hemorrhages in the Skin, Gums, and joints; in Asian countries, beriberi was widespread, leading to paralysis; and in the southern United States, pellagra—characterized by digestive disorders, dermatitis, and mental illness—was common. Most scientists at the time were convinced that these diseases were bacterial in origin, even though instances of curing certain conditions through specific dietary changes were already known. As early as 1870, cod Liver oil was used to prevent Rickets. In 1893, the Dutch physician C. Eijkman experimentally induced paralysis in chickens by feeding them polished white rice, and subsequently cured them with an extract derived from rice bran. This bran extract was also found to cure humans suffering from beriberi.

In 1911, the Polish biochemist C. Funk formulated the theory that beriberi, pellagra, rickets, and scurvy were caused by the absence of several distinct vital substances in the diet. That same year, F. Hopkins in England conducted experiments on rats maintained on an artificial diet, reporting that small amounts of "accessory growth factors" were essential for normal growth. Because the vitamin isolated in pure form exhibited The properties of an amine, Funk proposed the term "vitamin"—meaning amines of life (from the Latin vita, meaning life). It was later established that rat growth depends on two factors: one, soluble in organic Solvents, was designated as "A", and the other, soluble in Water, as "B". For their discovery of vitamins, Funk and Hopkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1929.

The biochemical Structure of certain vitamins was elucidated through the Study of the Chemical Structure of Coenzymes. During the 1930s, the structures of riboflavin and nicotinamide were determined, demonstrating that these very vitamins form part of FAD and NAD, respectively. Around the same time, pantothenic and ascorbic acids were first isolated in pure form. The structurally most complex vitamin, B12, was obtained in crystalline form in 1948, though its structure was only fully established a decade later using X-ray crystallography.