A vitamin is an organic compound that is essential to the human body in small quantities, but is not always able to be produced in sufficient quantities by the body; therefore, it needs to be supplied as a nutrient. Based on their type, there are two big groups:
- FAT soluble vitamins (DEKA)
- WATER-soluble vitamins (Figure 2)
DEKA:
- fat-soluble,
- apolar,
- hydrophobic isoprene derivatives,
They are stored in the body; their overdose is toxic (Figure 1).