. The Biochemistry of B vitamins. Vitamins; Vitamin B complex. Chapter IA B VITAMINS: WHAT THEY ARE Historically the term "vitamin B" was applied to the water-soluble organic material present in yeast, wheat germ, protein-free milk, etc., which was found to be necessary in small amounts for the nutrition of young animals. At the time this designation came into general use the dietary importance of minerals, proteins (amino acids), carbohydrates, fats, "vitamin A," and vitamin C was recognized, and "vitamin B" meant something distinct from these other recognized fo
. The Biochemistry of B vitamins. Vitamins; Vitamin B complex. Chapter IA B VITAMINS: WHAT THEY ARE Historically the term "vitamin B" was applied to the water-soluble organic material present in yeast, wheat germ, protein-free milk, etc., which was found to be necessary in small amounts for the nutrition of young animals. At the time this designation came into general use the dietary importance of minerals, proteins (amino acids), carbohydrates, fats, "vitamin A," and vitamin C was recognized, and "vitamin B" meant something distinct from these other recognized food materials. When it became evident that vitamin B was not a single substance but several, the designations Bi, B2, B3, etc., were introduced. These have more recently given way in most cases to names for the specific chemical substances involved: thiamine, riboflavin, etc. We shall discuss later specific cases of substances which according to one's point of view may or may not be included among the "B ; The time may well arrive when the term "B vitamin" will be abandoned, and each specific chemical substance will be considered entirely as a separate entity. At the present time, however, there is good reason for retaining the term, because B vitamins appear to have common attributes which set them apart from all other vitamins. Microbiological assay methods have made it possible to learn that the specific compounds commonly considered as members of the B family are universally distributed in all living cells, whether of plant, animal or bacterial origin. Since this appears not to be true of any of the other vitamins, it was suggested elsewhere that B vitamins may be tentatively defined as those which occur as indispensable constituents of all living If this suggestion is valid, their fundamental importance is self- evident. Studies relating to the functioning of individual members of the B family of vitamins have demonstrated that they are
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