Niacin - History

History

Niacin was first described by chemist Hugo Weidel in 1873 in his studies of nicotine. The original preparation remains useful: The oxidation of nicotine using nitric acid. Niacin was extracted from livers by biochemist Conrad Elvehjem in 1937, who later identified the active ingredient, then referred to as the "pellagra-preventing factor" and the "anti-blacktongue factor." Soon after, in studies conducted in Alabama and Cincinnati, Dr. Tom Spies found that nicotinic acid cured the sufferers of pellagra.

When the biological significance of nicotinic acid was realized, it was thought appropriate to choose a name to dissociate it from nicotine, to avoid the perception that vitamins or niacin-rich food contains nicotine, or that cigarettes contain vitamins. The resulting name 'niacin' was derived from nicotinic acid + vitamin.

Carpenter found in 1951 that niacin in corn is biologically unavailable, and can be released only in very alkaline lime water of pH 11. This process, known as nixtamalization, was discovered by the prehistoric civilizations of Mesoamerica.

Niacin is referred to as vitamin B₃ because it was the third of the B vitamins to be discovered. It has historically been referred to as "vitamin PP" or "vitamin P-P".