Vitamins:

• Additional food factor required in minute amounts along with chemically defined diet to sustain life are called vitamins.
• Vitamins are:
  • Component of natural foods but distinct from carbohydrate, fat, protein and water.
  • Present in normal foods in minute amount.
  • Essential for development of normal tissues and for normal health, growth and maintenance.
  • When absent from diet or not properly absorbed or utilized, it causes a specific deficiency diseases or syndrome.
  • Cannot be synthesized by host and therefore must be obtained from either from diet or from microorganism of intestinal tract.