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Vitamins are organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolic function. Essential nutrients cannot be synthesized in the organism in sufficient quantities for survival, and therefore must be obtained through the diet .
Vitamins can serve as precursors to many organic cofactors (e.g., vitamins B 1, B 2, B 6, B 12, niacin, folic acid) or as coenzymes themselves (e.g., vitamin C). However, vitamins do have other functions in the body. [29] Many organic cofactors also contain a nucleotide, such as the electron carriers NAD and FAD, and coenzyme A, which carries ...
Vitamins occur in a variety of related forms known as vitamers. The vitamers of a given vitamin perform the functions of that vitamin and prevent symptoms of deficiency of that vitamin. Vitamins are those essential organic molecules that are not classified as amino acids or fatty acids.
A biomolecule or biological molecule is loosely defined as a molecule produced by a living organism and essential to one or more typically biological processes. [1] Biomolecules include large macromolecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids, as well as small molecules such as vitamins and hormones.
The carbohydrates produced are stored in or used by the plant. Most plants obtain nutrients through inorganic substances absorbed from the soil or the atmosphere. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur are essential nutrients that make up organic material in a plant and allow enzymic processes.
Vitamin B 12 is a coordination complex of cobalt, which occupies the center of a corrin ligand and is further bound to a benzimidazole ligand and adenosyl group. [18] Several related species are known and these behave similarly, in particular, all function as vitamins. This collection of compounds is sometimes referred to as "cobalamins".
Fats are triglycerides, made of assorted fatty acid monomers bound to a glycerol backbone. Some fatty acids, but not all, are essential in the diet: they cannot be synthesized in the body. Protein molecules contain nitrogen atoms in addition to carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. [11]
Vitamin D is a group of structurally related, fat-soluble compounds responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, along with numerous other biological functions. [1] [2] In humans, the most important compounds within this group are vitamin D 3 (cholecalciferol) and vitamin D 2 (ergocalciferol). [2] [3]