Vitamin E - Tocopherol

In 1923 Herbert Evans and Katherine Bishop in California, USA, discovered that there existed a dietary factor which was essential for reproduction in rats. It was given the name vitamin E or antisterility factor by Dr E. V. Shute in 1924. It was, however, only in 1936 that Evans and his colleagues finally isolated pure vitamin E from wheat-germ oil. They called it tocopherol. This word is derived from locos meaning child birth, and pheros meaning to bear.

Eight different tocopherol compounds with vitamin E activity have been identified uptil now. All of them have the same physiological properties. The tocopherols are yellow, oily liquids, freely soluble in fat solvents. They are not easily destroyed by heat even at room temperature above 100°C or 212° F. Substances which interfere with or destroy vitamin E in the body are iron compounds, synthetic oestrogen, and chlorine or chlorinated water.

Approximately 50 to 85 per cent of vitamin E in the diet is absorbed from the gastro-intestinal tract by a mechanism similar to that of other fat-soluble vitamins. It enters the bloodstream via the lymph. The vitamin is stored in all the tissues, and the tissue stores can, provide protection against the deficiency of this vitamin for long periods. About one-third of the vitamin E is excreted in the bile and the balance is excreted in the urine.What are the Sources & functions of Vitamin E ?

Vitamin E Healing Properties, Deficiency Symptoms and Precautions

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