Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology (2+1)

Unit 6 - Vitamins

6.2.Classification

Vitamins may be classified into two broad groups, depending on their solubility; the water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins.

As their name suggests, the fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract in the presence of fat and can be stored within the fat reserves of the body. Whenever dietary intake exceeds metabolic demands; storage increases with dietary intake causing a toxic condition called hypervitaminosis. By contrast, the water-soluble vitamins are not stored in appreciable quantities in the animal body. Body stores being rapidly depleted in the absence of regular dietary water-soluble vitamin sources. Water-soluble vitamins toxicities are therefore unlikely.