Vitamin В9 (a folic acid or folacin)

This vitamin participates in many biochemical reactions. It is extremely necessary for normal growth and development of human organism. Folacin produces stimulating effect on blood formation, increases assimilability of vitamin В12, and participates in synthesis of some amino acids. Deficiency of vitamin В9 is the most widespread form of vitamin insufficiency. It can cause anemia or even megaloblastic hyperchromic anemia, which is characterized by erythropoiesis disturbance and affection of white blood with the phenomena of leuko-and a thrombocytopenia. Folacin hypovitaminosis in pregnant women can lead to the disorder of mental development of the fetus. Frequently the prolonged insufficiency of vitamin В9 results in occurrence of various diseases of the organs of the abdominal cavity. The daily norm of folacin consumption for an adult person is 0.4 mg and twice more for pregnant women. This vitamin is found in many food products of animal origin such as liver and kidneys, as well as in products of vegetative origin such as leguminous plants, cabbage, beet, carrots, potatoes, leafy vegetables, and also in many fruit. There is much folacin in the yeast. It is necessary to note, that thermal culinary processing of foods reduces the content of vitamin in them because folacin in contrast to the majority of other vitamins of B group is destroyed by heating.

Vitamin РР (nicotinic acid or niacin)

This vitamin is a component of some oxidizing enzymes and is included in the coenzymes NAD and NADF, which enter into the composition of dehydrogenases. It participates actively in the redox processes as an electron carrier and is important for metabolism. Vitamin РР influences beneficially on the condition of nervous system and cutaneous covering. Acute niacin insufficiency results in development of such disease as pellagra, which can be translated as “a rough skin”. In this case not only changes of the tegument condition are detected, but also the disturbance of the intestinal activity is observed, as well as the derangements of the central nervous system activity in the form of mental deferred response. Vitamin deficiency causes the general increased weakness, drowsiness, fatigue, irritability, and sleeplessness. Symptoms of РР hypovitaminosis are lingering diarrhea, glossitis, disturbances of gastric juice secretion, dermatitis of face and open parts of the body, disorders of sensitivity and skin reflexes, adynamia, ataxia, irritability, and psychoses. In heavy cases dementia develops. Vitamin deficiency of the organism can be caused by an inadequate nutrition, for example, when consuming large amounts of products, such as corn, containing niacin in a bound state. Such kind of nutrition provokes pellagra development. The deficiency of the full value protein containing amino acid tryptophan, which is one of the most important sources of vitamin РР, and chronic diseases of the organs of the abdominal cavity also result in the development of hypovitaminosis РР. The daily norm of niacin consumption for an adult person is 15.0 mg. Vitamin РР can be found in bread produced from graham flour, cereals, kidney beans, peas, potato, meat, fish, byproducts, eggs, yeast, as well as in the some vegetables and dried mushrooms.