Knowledge of Products
May 22, 2021
Vitamin E also known as Tocopherol, was discovered in 1922 by Herbert Evans and his associates at the University of California in the United States while studying the effects of various nutrients in feed. A fat-soluble dietary factor was found to help restore fertility. It was then called vitamin X. The factor was named vitamin E in 1924. In 1936, Evans isolated two compounds with vitamin E activity from wheat germ oil. The compounds were named tocopherol, from the Greek words Tocos (offspring) and Pherein (fertility), meaning to produce offspring, so they named them alpha tocopherol and beta tocopherol. The following year, Evans isolated two other tocopherols from vegetable oils, gamma tocopherol and deta tocopherol. In 1937-1938, the chemist Ferinholz first proposed the exact structure of alpha tocopherol.Vitamin E was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Kaurr in 1938. In 1968, the United States Food and Nutrition Board officially identified vitamin E as an essential ingredient in human nutrition.
Vitamin E is a group of phenolic compounds with biological activity and similar chemical structure. Natural vitamin E contains four molecular components, which are α-tocopherol, β-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol and δ-tocopherol. The order of their biological activities is α-tocopherol >.β-tocopherol >γ-tocopherol>δ-tocopherol. Among them, α-tocopherol has the highest activity, the most widely distributed and the most representative, especially D-α-tocopherol has the highest biological activity.
Tocopherol is widely used in the fields of drugs, food additives, nutrition, health products and cosmetics. It is mainly used as an antioxidant and nutrient fortifier in fatty food in the food industry. In the pharmaceutical industry, it can be used as the raw material of medicine to produce drugs for the prevention and treatment of arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, delay the decline of brain function and other diseases. In the cosmetics industry can delay skin aging, enhance skin elasticity, restore youthful vitality. As a feed additive, it can improve the reproductive function of animals and enhance fecundity.
