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Vitamins were first recognised by the deseases that occurred from the lack of certain foods, the British Navy recognised that a constituant in limes prevented skurvy, so limes were added to the diet of sailors, which are a good source of vitamin C. Vitamin D prevents rickets, and so forth.
Vitamins can be divided in two groups by their solubility in water, as follows.
Water-soluble vitamins:
Fat-soluble vitamins:
Unlike food, water, and--for aerobic organisms--air, an organism can survive quite some time without vitamins, although prolongued vitamin deficit results in a disease state. Organic vitamins are contrasted with other trace nutritional requirements that are inorganic in nature, referred to as minerals?.
Usage of names 'Vitamin <letter>' and 'Vitamin <letter><number>' is diminishing.
This is especially true for vitamins H, M, B1, B2, B3 and B5, which are usually called by their proper chemical names.
On the other hand, vitamins D and E are still usually called with their symbolic names,
and A and K don't even have proper chemical names.
Names Ascorbic Acid and Vitamin C are used with similar frequency.
It's very probable that in some distant future, all vitamins will be named with proper chemical names. We can see this evolution in case of Ascorbic Acid nowadays.
Different organisms need different trace organic substances.
List of vitamins in this article refers to humans.
Most of Mammals? need, with a little exceptions, the same vitamins.
For example Rat?s don't need Ascorbic Acid.
Further we go from Mammals?, the more diverse organism's requirements become. For example some Bacteria needs Adenine?.