The insight that went unnoticed: Nikolai Ivanovich Lunin (1853-1937) and research on some indispensable substance of...

Before the 18th century, many authorities expressed their individual opinions on how food helps maintain health. By the end of the 18th century, the First Chemical Revolution had examined all existing and new ideas from a fresh perspective. Foods were subjected to chemical analysis. Among the various scientists, Jean Baptiste André Dumas voiced his doubts about the nutritional value of artificially milk made to counter the shortage during the Siege of Paris (1870-1871). The traditional idea of five essential factors-namely carbohydrates, proteins, fats, salts (or minerals), and water-was also questioned. Josef Forster was the first to test the significance of minerals in nutrition and concluded that a certain critical amount of inorganic salts is needed to maintain nutrition. Gustav von Bunge, an influential scientist, criticized Forster's observations and instructed his student Nikolai Ivanovich Lunin to investigate the idea. Lunin conducted methodical research and found that even if the artificial combination of all the nutritive factors present in milk was insufficient for complete nutrition, there must be some 'indispensable substance' necessary to complete the matter. This was the first experiment that initiated vitamin research. This work was not pursued further, and Nikolai Lunin's groundbreaking contribution went unnoticed for decades.