Riboflavin (E101), also known as vitamin B2, is an easily absorbed micronutrient with a key role in maintaining health in animals. It is the central component of the cofactors FAD and FMN, and is therefore required by all flavoproteins. As such, vitamin B2 is required for a wide variety of cellular processes. Like the other B vitamins, it plays a key role in energy metabolism, and is required for the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.

Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is manufactured in the body by the intestinal flora and is easily absorbed, although very small quantities are stored, so there is a constant need for this vitamin.

It is part of the B complex vitamins and also has other names as well. Vitamin B2 is also known as Vitamin G or lactoflavin. Vitamin B2 was first recognized in 1932 in yeast, and then in 1933 it was isolated from milk whey.

This vitamin has a yellowish color and therefore is often used as a food coloring, but when used in supplement form, can often make a persons urine seem more yellow, but this is completely normal and harmless.

Vitamin B2 is a water and alcohol soluble vitamin and can be found in the kidneys and liver, although it is not stored in the body. This vitamin is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine, but if there is an excess, then the vitamin B2 will be excreted from the body.

Vitamin B2 is destroyed by light and is lost in cooking water, however actual cooking of food in general will not destroy this vitamin unless a person uses alkalis such as baking soda or baking powder.

 

Vitamin B2 - riboflavin - is required for

It is required by the body to use oxygen and the metabolism of amino acids, fatty acids, and carbohydrates. Riboflavin is further needed to activate vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), helps to create niacin and assists the adrenal gland. It may be used for red blood cell formation, antibody production, cell respiration, and growth.

It eases watery eye fatigue and may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of cataracts. Vitamin B2 is required for the health of the mucus membranes in the digestive tract and helps with the absorption of iron and vitamin B6.

Although it is needed for periods of rapid growth, it is also needed when protein intake is high, and is most beneficial to the skin, hair and nails.

 

Deficiency of vitamin B2

A shortage of this vitamin may manifest itself as cracks and sores at the corners of the mouth, eye disorders, inflammation of the mouth and tongue, and skin lesions.

Dermatitis, dizziness, hair loss, insomnia, light sensitivity, poor digestion, retarded growth, and slow mental responses have also been reported. Burning feet can also be indicative of a shortage.

Riboflavin is continuously excreted in the urine of healthy individuals, making deficiency relatively common when dietary intake is insufficient. However, Riboflavin deficiency is always accompanied by deficiency of other vitamins.

A deficiency of riboflavin can be primary - due to not getting enough of the vitamin from the diet - or secondary, which may be a result of conditions that affect absorption in the intestine, the body not being able to use the vitamin, or an increase in the excretion of the vitamin from the body..

In humans, signs and symptoms of riboflavin deficiency (ariboflavinosis) include cracked and red lips, inflammation of the lining of mouth and tongue, mouth ulcers, cracks at the corners of the mouth (angular cheilitis), and a sore throat. A deficiency may also cause dry and scaling skin, fluid in the mucous membranes, and iron-deficiency anemia. The eyes may also become bloodshot, itchy, watery and sensitive to bright light.

Riboflavin deficiency is classically associated with the oral-ocular-genital syndrome. Angular cheilitis, photophobia, and scrotal dermatitis are the classic remembered signs.

In animals, riboflavin deficiency results in lack of growth, failure to thrive, and eventual death. Experimental riboflavin deficiency in dogs results in growth failure, weakness, ataxia, and inability to stand. The animals collapse, become comatose, and die. During the deficiency state, dermatitis develops together with hair-loss. Other signs include corneal opacity, lenticular cataracts, hemorrhagic adrenals, fatty degeneration of the kidney and liver, and inflammation of the mucus membrane of the gastrointestinal tract. Post-mortem studies in rhesus monkeys fed a riboflavin-deficient diet revealed that about one-third the normal amount of riboflavin was present in the liver, which is the main storage organ for riboflavin in mammals. These overt clinical signs of riboflavin deficiency are rarely seen among inhabitants of the developed countries. However, about 28 million Americans exhibit a common ‘sub-clinical' stage[citation needed], characterized by a change in biochemical indices (e.g. reduced plasma erythrocyte glutathione reductase levels). Although the effects of long-term sub-clinical riboflavin deficiency are unknown, in children this deficiency results in reduced growth. Subclinical riboflavin deficiency has also been observed in women taking oral contraceptives, in the elderly, in people with eating disorders, and in disease states such as HIV, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and chronic heart disease. The fact that riboflavin deficiency does not immediately lead to gross clinical manifestations indicates that the systemic levels of this essential vitamin are tightly regulated.

 

Diagnostic Testing of B2 Deficiency

A positive diagnostic test for measuring levels of riboflavin in serum is ascertained by measuring erythrocyte levels of glutathione reductase.

 

Dosage

The dosage underneath is the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), but be aware that this dosage is the minimum that you require per day, to ward off serious deficiency of this particular nutrient. In the therapeutic use of this nutrient, the dosage is usually increased considerably, but the toxicity level must be kept in mind.

Male 1,6 mg per day and female 1.2 mg per day although 50 mg is mostly recommended for supplementation.

But, if a person is pregnant or lactating, smokes, has a lot of stress, is on certain drugs (such as antibiotics, antidepressants or oral contraceptives), or drinks alcohol, then the requirements of vitamin B2 may need to be increased.

 

Toxicity and symptoms of high intake

The limited capacity to absorb orally administered riboflavin precludes its potential for harm. Riboflavin intake of many times the RDA is without demonstrable toxicity.

A normal yellow discoloration of the urine is seen with an increased intake of this vitamin - but it is normal and harmless.

If, however, too much of an excess in vitamin B2 is taken, then a person may notice itching or burning sensations occur, although once the amount is reduced, then this would disappear. That is one of the reasons why all B complex vitamins should be taken together and not separately, so that a person can avoid either a deficiency in one or another, or an excess in one or another of these vitamins.

 

Best used with

Riboflavin is best taken with B group vitamins and vitamin C.

But please note - if taking a B2 supplement make sure that the B6 amount is nearly the same.

 

When more may be required

Extra might be needed when consuming alcohol, antibiotics, and birth control pills or doing strenuous exercise.

If you are under a lot of stress or on a calorie-restricted diet, this vitamin could also be of use.

 

Clinical Uses

Riboflavin has been used in several clinical and therapeutic situations. For over 30 years, riboflavin supplements have been used as part of the phototherapy treatment of neonatal jaundice. The light used to irradiate the infants breaks down not only the toxin causing the jaundice, but the naturally occurring riboflavin within the infant's blood as well.

More recently there has been growing evidence that supplemental riboflavin may be a useful additive along with beta-blockers in the treatment of migraine headaches.

Development is underway to use riboflavin to improve the safety of transfused blood by reducing pathogens found in collected blood. Riboflavin attaches itself to the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) in cells, and when light is applied, the nucleic acids are broken, effectively killing those cells. The technology has been shown to be effective for inactivating pathogens in all three major blood components: (platelets, red blood cells, and plasma). It has been shown to inactivate a broad spectrum of pathogens, including known and emerging viruses, bacteria, and parasites.

 

Industrial Uses

Because riboflavin is fluorescent under UV light, dilute solutions (0.015-0.025% w/w) are often used to detect leaks or to demonstrate cleanability in an industrial system such a chemical blend tank or bioreactor. (See the ASME BPE section on Testing and Inspection for additional details.)

 

Industrial synthesis

Various biotechnological processes have been developed for industrial scale riboflavin biosynthesis using different microorganisms, including filamentous fungi such as Ashbya gossypii, Candida famata and Candida flaveri as well as the bacteria Corynebacterium ammoniagenes and Bacillus subtilis. The latter organism has been genetically modified to both increase the bacteria's production of riboflavin and to introduce an antibiotic (ampicillin) resistance marker, and is now successfully employed at a commercial scale to produce riboflavin for feed and food fortification purposes. The chemical company BASF has installed a plant in South Korea, which is specialized on riboflavin production using Ashbya gossypii. The concentrations of riboflavin in their modified strain are so high, that the mycelium has a reddish / brownish color and accumulates riboflavin crystals in the vacuoles, which will eventually burst the mycelium.

 

Enemy of nutrient of vitamin B2

Riboflavin is sensitive to light.

 

Nutrition

It's a vitamin which when present in the bloodstream with other b vitamins, has better efficiency and lets the other b vitamins be more efficient.

 

Other interesting points

This nutrient is of use in the health of hair, nails and skin.

 

Food sources of vitamin B2

Organ meats, nuts, cheese, eggs, milk and lean meat are great sources of riboflavin, but is also available in good quantities in green leafy vegetables, fish,

Some of the significant food sources that contain Vitamin B2 are; asparagus, okra, chard, cottage cheese, wheatgerm, whole milk, yogurt, brewers yeast, eggs and cheese and lean meat, liver, legumes such as mature soybeans, yeast and almonds are good sources of vitamin B2, but exposure to light destroys riboflavin.

 

Sources : Zest for Life, mynaturallife.com and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia