100 years of vitamins
PETER ENGEL
DSM Nutritional Products Europe Ltd.
Member of AgroFOOD industry hi-tech's Scientific Advisory Board
AgroFOOD industry hi-tech - March/April 2012 - vol 23 n 2
From the Scientific Advisory Board
Peter Engel
2
Vitamins are important! You probably remember your mother’s orders: Don’t forget to take your vitamins! We’ve all heard
similar things but we seldom ask ourselves: What exactly are vitamins and why are they so important?
Vitamins are essential organic compounds that the body cannot produce itself and must therefore be obtained through
dietary means (exceptions: niacin and vitamin D). There are a total of 13 vitamins vital for many bodily functions, such as the
formation of cells and bones and the strengthening of the immune system. Vitamins are designated both by their chemical
structure and a letter in combination with a number. Alphabetical gaps have arisen because not all the substances which were
originally identified turned out to be single vitamins.
Vitamins were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, European rice hulling machines were brought
to Asia to process rice. However, the hulling process stripped the rice of its vital nutritional elements. As a consequence, new
health problems began emerging in the people and animals who relied upon the rice as a staple food. Typically, the symptoms
included lower energy levels and signs of paralysis. This dietary deficiency disease is known as beriberi.
For a long time it was thought that food poisoning and infections were the causes of deficiency diseases like beriberi. Inspired
after reading an article on the illness, the Polish biochemist Casimir Funk set about discovering a suitable cure. Eventually Funk
managed to identify and isolate a substance from rice bran that could cure patients. In 1912, he named this substance “vitamine”
- a combination of “vita” (Latin for “life”) and “amine” (= nitrogen compound) - assuming that nitrogen compounds were the
defining characteristics of this new substance group. Funk was widely expected to receive the Nobel Prize for his pioneering
work, but in 1929 it went instead to Christiaan Eijkman of the Netherlands and Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins of England.
For 100 years, the name “vitamins” has been an umbrella term for a group of organic micronutrients that play an essential
role in our bodies. The majority of vitamins cannot be directly produced by the body and must therefore be obtained through
dietary means (one of the very few exceptions is vitamin D). In the case of insufficient vitamin intake, the lack of these essential
micronutrients can result in serious deficiency illnesses, tiredness and susceptibility to infections.
The history of vitamin-deficiency diseases begins far earlier than the discovery of vitamins. Beriberi was described in China
as early as 2600 BC. While sailing around Cape Horn at the end of the 15th century, Vasco da Gama lost more than 100 of
his 160 crew members to scurvy, which is now understood to be caused by a serious vitamin C deficiency. In 1645, there
was documentation of bone diseases that we now know were caused by a lack of vitamin D, i.e. by insufficient exposure
to sunlight, as a result of religious and cultural practices. Although the exact causes of such illnesses were not known
at the time, there were already attempts to prevent and treat them. For instance, night blindness (caused by a lack of
vitamin A) was already being treated with liver or liver extract (rich in vitamin A) in Egypt in 2500 BC. Even the hypothesis
that sauerkraut (rich in vitamin C) could protect people from scurvy had already been established some 500 years ago.
Dedicated research on vitamins, which began with the work of Funk 100 years ago, only took off in the first half of the 20th
century. During that period of time, scientists were able to identify and synthesize all 13 of the currently known vitamins,
earning many of them the Nobel Prize.
Since then, there has been a lot of research on the biological functions of vitamins and the intakes required by different
population groups in order to stay healthy. Despite extensive knowledge now available on the crucial role of vitamins in the
body, vitamin deficiencies are, unfortunately, not a thing of the past.
In many developing countries people do not
have access to vitamin-rich foods, which
leads to high mortality rates and serious health
problems. However, micronutrient deficiencies
are not merely a problem for the developing
world. Closer to home, in the world of abundant
and modern lifestyles, vitamin deficiencies are
also surprisingly common. Comprehensive
information campaigns, the fortification of foods
and nutritional supplementation are some of
the attempts being made to close up the gaps
in essential micronutrient intake - but these
have only been partially successful. DSM works
in partnership with other organizations, such
as the World Food Programme (WFP), to help
close up the gaps in essential micronutrient
intakes and promote the imperative role of
micronutrients in preventive health.
The vitamins are now officially 100 years old
and they will continue to make history for a
long time yet.