THE WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS

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Abstract
This group of dietary factors is classified as the water soluble vitamins because, like all vitamins, they are required by the body in extremely small amounts and because the individual chemical compounds are soluble in water although the degree of solubility may vary greatly from the sparingly soluble riboflavin to the readily soluble ascorbic acid. These are the only characteristics common to the individual components because their functions in the living cell may differ greatly and their chemical structures may vary from the simple configuration of nicotinic acid to the more complicated molecular structure of thiamine and riboflavin. Based largely on the source material used in early isolation work and the kind of experimental animal employed for the assay, the water soluble vitamins are generally subdivided into the B vitamins and vitamin C, together with related factors. No attempt will be made to cover in this short summary the vast