Vitamin A, first fat-soluble vitamin identified
Vitamina A, primera vitamina liposoluble identificada
- Date
- 1913 · confidence high
- Place
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
- Credited to
- Elmer McCollum and Marguerite Davis; independently, Thomas Osborne and Lafayette Mendel (Yale)
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
McCollum and Davis identified in butterfat and egg yolk a 'fat-soluble factor A' essential for animal growth, the first vitamin recognised as fat-soluble rather than water-soluble.
Osborne and Mendel independently reached almost identical conclusions at nearly the same time at Yale; both teams share credit for the discovery.
What it led to
- Classification of vitamins into fat- and water-soluble
- Prevention of xerophthalmia and night blindness from deficiency
- Fortification of food with vitamin A
Built on
Made possible
- Synthetic retinol and vitamin A supplements