Are Vitamins Organic Or Inorganic?

Vitamins are organic micronutrients -- nutrients consumed in very small quantities --t hat are needed by living organisms to grow and develop properly. The different kinds of vitamins include vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the eight B vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. Without them, deficiencies and diseases are likely to develop.

Definition of Organic Molecules

With only a few exceptions, organic molecules are classified as those compounds that contain some kind of carbon-based backbone -- in other words, a long chain or ring of carbon atoms to which hydrogen atoms are bonded. Despite the complexity of life, most organic molecules are made out of surprisingly few atoms. Besides carbon and hydrogen, life also relies upon oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and very small amounts of minor elements such as chlorine. Anything that is not organic is referred to as inorganic.

Characteristics of Organic Molecules

The most important characteristic of organic molecules is that they are the foundation for all biological life. A single atom of carbon has unique bonding properties. It can bond with up to four other atoms in complex, three-dimensional patterns, providing a huge variety of potential molecular structures. These molecules make up most of the functions and structures of the body. Most organic molecules are manufactured by or derived in some way from other organic molecules of living creatures. However, this is not a binding rule. The basic organic molecules can be made from inorganic materials without the prerequisite of life. The best known example is the 1953 Miller-Urey experiment, which formed sugars and a few important components of DNA merely by exposing various gases to electricity.

Composition of Vitamins

Vitamins satisfy the primary attributes of organic molecules. They contain carbon backbones to which oxygen and hydrogen, in varying proportions, are attached. Some of the B vitamins even contain nitrogen and, to a much lesser degree, phosphorus and sulfur. However, vitamins are a very diverse group, and they are classified in accordance with their biological activity rather than with their specific structure.

Function of Vitamins as Organic Molecules

Vitamins are an integral part of human health, and like other organic molecules, they play a direct role in the body's metabolism. For example, vitamin C helps in the synthesis of collagen, a group of proteins found especially in the bones, blood vessels and connective tissue of animals and mammals. However, vitamins used by the human body are almost unanimously synthesized by other living organisms. Most come from plants and microorganisms and must be consumed directly from the food you eat. Humans have lost the ability to manufacture vitamin C, even as many other mammals retained that ability. One exception is vitamin D, which can be manufactured independently from the diet when your skin is exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun.