Highlights in the history of vitamins. Part-II

With the work of James Lind (1716-1794) on scurvy and Kanehiro Takaki (1849-1920) on beriberi, the initial journey of vitamin research began. The contributions from Joseph Goldberger (1874-1929), Cornelis Adrianus Pekelharing (1848-1922), Christiaan Eijkman (1858-1930), Casimir Funk (1884-1967), and many others led to the further advancement of vitamin research. Most vitamins were discovered within 50 years. These works not only remained confined to the identification of various vitamins but also led to the discovery of finer details on the subject. One after another, vitamins were discovered, and their chemical structures and biochemical properties were described. This contribution is a brief review of the fascinating story of the discovery of various vitamins, the research work associated with them, and their naming, the antivitamins, and some aspects of the research work, like the use of animal models.