Overivew of Vitamins and Minerals

Question 1

General description of vitamins?

Answer 1

Vitamins are organic non-protein molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolic function. Vitamins are essential nutrients that cannot be synthesized in the organism in sufficient quantities for survival, and therefore must be obtained through the diet. For example, vitamin C can be synthesized by some species but not by others; it is not considered a vitamin in the first instance but is in the second. Most vitamins are not single molecules but groups of related molecules called vitamers. For example, there are eight vitamers of vitamin E: four tocopherols and four tocotrienols.

Question 2

What are some examples of the biochemical functions of vitamins?

Answer 2

Vitamins have diverse biochemical functions.
* Vitamin A acts as a regulator of cell and tissue growth and differentiation.
* Vitamin D provides a hormone-like function, regulating mineral metabolism for bones and other organs.
* The B complex vitamins function as enzyme cofactors (coenzymes) or the precursors for them.
* Vitamins C and E function as antioxidants

Question 3

What is the difference between a cofactor and a coenzyme?

Answer 3

Question 4

How many vitamins are there?

Answer 4

Major health organizations list thirteen vitamins:[3][4][5]

• Vitamin A (all-trans-retinols, all-trans-retinyl-esters, as well as all-trans-beta-carotene and other provitamin A carotenoids)
  There are 8 B vitamins
• Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
• Vitamin B3 (niacin)
• Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)
• Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
• Vitamin B7 (biotin)
• Vitamin B9 (folic acid and folates)
• Vitamin B12 (cobalamins)
• Vitamin C (ascorbic acid and ascorbates)
• Vitamin D (calciferols)
• Vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols)
• Vitamin K (phylloquinones, menaquinones, and menadiones)
  Some sources include a fourteenth, choline.[6]

Question 5

Brief history of vitamins

Answer 5

All the vitamins were discovered between 1913 and 1948. Historically, when intake of vitamins from diet was lacking, the results were vitamin deficiency diseases. Then, starting in 1935, commercially produced tablets of yeast-extract vitamin B complex and semi-synthetic vitamin C became available.[8] This was followed in the 1950s by the mass production and marketing of vitamin supplements, including multivitamins, to prevent vitamin deficiencies in the general population.[8] Governments have mandated the addition of some vitamins to staple foods such as flour or milk, referred to as food fortification, to prevent deficiencies.[9] Recommendations for folic acid supplementation during pregnancy reduced risk of infant neural tube defects.[10]

Question 6

Chart of
chemical structure of vitamins

Answer 6

Question 7

What is the difference between vitamins and minerals?

Answer 7

VITAMINS
Organic compounds that contain carbon-to-hydrogen bonds. They can break down when exposed to heat, air, or acid.
MINERALS
Inorganic compounds that maintain their chemical structure when exposed to heat, air, or acid

Question 8

What minerals are in the earth’s crust?

Answer 8

The abundance and diversity of minerals is controlled directly by their chemistry, in turn dependent on elemental abundances in the Earth. The majority of minerals observed are derived from the Earth’s crust. Eight elements account for most of the key components of minerals, due to their abundance in the crust. These eight elements, summing to over 98% of the crust by weight, are, in order of decreasing abundance: oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium. Oxygen and silicon are by far the two most important – oxygen composes 47% of the crust by weight, and silicon accounts for 28%.[46]

Question 9

What is the difference between a molecule and a compound?

Answer 9

A molecule is any group of two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds, while a compound is a substance formed by combining two or more different elements chemically, meaning all compounds are molecules, but not all molecules are compounds; for example, oxygen gas (O2) is a molecule but not a compound because it’s made of only one element, while water (H2O) is both a molecule and a compound as it’s made of different elements (hydrogen and oxygen).

Key points to remember:
• Molecules can be made of atoms from the same element: Like oxygen gas (O2).
• Compounds must be made of atoms from different elements: Like water (H2O).
• All compounds are considered molecules: Because a compound is formed by atoms of different elements chemically bonded together, which is the definition of a molecule.
- Molecule is thus the broader term with compounds being a type or subset of molecules