Fat-soluble vitamins and vitamin C in milk and milk products

Abstract

Vitamins are a heterogeneous group of organic substances that are present in our natural foods, that are of very high biological potency and that are required in extremely small concentrations for growth and maintenance of normal cells and body function. They need to be supplied in the diet, because the body either cannot make them or cannot do so in amounts that are essential for growth, maintenance and normal and body function. Vitamin families are chemically heterogeneous and are generally classified according to their physical properties, i.e. as being either fat soluble, or water soluble. The fat-soluble vitamins tend to have predominately aromatic or aliphatic character, whereas the water-soluble vitamins tend to have one or more polar or ionizable groups (carboxyl, keto, hydroxyl, amino or phosphate). © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.