VITAMINS Vitamins are complex organic substances found in various foods, which are required for specific metabolic reactions within the cells. In 1912 Dr. Casimir Funk of the Lister Institute of London proposed the name vitamines for these accessory food factors (Hopkins, 1906). Funk isolated the antiberiberi substance in pure form from rice polishings. Since the active factor was an amine, and necessary for life, he introduced the term "vitamin". This term has been retained to designate accessory food factors that are neither amino acids nor inorganic elements. Since not all these substances are amines, the term was later modified to vitamins by dropping the terminal "e", by Sir. J.C. Drummond in 1920, who also proposed their alphabetical nomenclature... CLASSIFICATION The vitamins are generally divided into 2 major groups: fat-soluble and water-soluble. The fat-soluble vitamins, which are usually found associated with the lipids of natural foods, include vitamin ...