VITAMINS The vitamins comprise a diverse group of organic compounds required by animals in small amounts to ensure normal growth and maintenance of health. It is often stated that vitamins cannot be produced in the body and must, therefore, be supplied in the diet. Vitamins are essential micronutrients because the animal cannot synthesize such compounds in amounts adequate for its daily needs. Plants have the ability to synthesize most of the vitamins and serve as primary sources of these dietary essentials. An insufficiently of a vitamin in the animal ’s diet, or its poor absorption from the digestive tract, frequently induces a disease with characteristics symptoms. Vitamins may be classified according to their solubility into two groups: the fat soluble water (A, D, E and K) and the water soluble vitamin (B group and C). This simple classification reflects to some extent the function of the vitamins, as the solubility affects their natural distribution in tissues and their physiological role therein. The ever-increasing use of vitamins in pharmaceutical preparations makes their determination a matter of foremost importance. Biological, microbiological and physicochemical methods are used for the determination of vitamins. Food Guide Pyramid Biological role of the B-group vitamins Several of the B-groups vitamins serve as precursors for enzyme cofactors that function in the catabolism of foodstuffs to produce energy for the organisms. The dietary macronutrients such as carbohydrates, lipids and protein are degraded in a three-stage