The Effect of Incubation on the Vitamin Content of Eggs

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Abstract
The total amount of pantothenic acid and of riboflavin present in hen eggs does not change during incubation. The amount of biotin also remains constant or decreases somewhat. Nicotinic acid is synthesized by the chick embryo, so that the final amount present in the newly-hatched chick is over twenty times that originally present in the unincubated egg. Inositol likewise appears to be synthesized by the chick embryo. Presumably these synthetic powers of the embryo are retained by the chick. If this is so, it would indicate that nicotinic acid and inositol, unlike riboflavin, pantothenic acid and biotin, are not required in the diet of the chick. Whether such synthetic powers are sufficient to supply the needs of the chick for optimal or maximal growth is, of course, not determined by the present data.