Human Nutrition 3(3+0)

Lesson 23 : Vitamin K

Dietary sources

Vitamin K1(phylloquinone) occurs in plant foods while vitamin K2 (menaquinone) occurs in microorganisms. The best sources of vitamin K1 are the green leafy vegetables e.g., fenugreek, amaranth, alfalfa, spinach, cabbage, kale etc. Good sources are cauliflower, soyabean, wheat bran, wheat germ certain vegetable oils like soyabean oil, cottonseed oil, olive oil etc. etc. Carrots and potatoes are fair sources. Animal foods in general contain limited amounts of vitamin K.

The vitamin K content of foods is as follows:

	Food stuff	Vitamin K (? g/100g)
Rich sources
	Green leafy vegetables	150-330
	Liver	115-220
Good Sources
	Pulses	60-90
Fair sources
	Cereals	10-40
	Vegetables	15-45
Poor sources
	Cow’s milk	6
	Human milk	2