Vitamins

• Vitamins are a group of organic compounds which are essential for normal growth and nutrition and are required in very small amounts for maintaining optimum growth and a good health.
• Their absence causes specific deficiency diseases.
• Most of the vitamins cannot be synthesized in our body but plants can synthesize almost all of them.
• Vitamin D is an exception because it can be made in the skin from exposure to sunlight.

Classification of Vitamins

On the basis of solubility in water, vitamins are classified into the following two types:

• Fat-soluble vitamins: Vitamins A, D, E and K are oil soluble.
• Water-soluble vitamins: The group includes Vitamins B and C. These are stored in much lesser amounts in the cells.