Nutrition For Indians: Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

What is vitamin B2?

Vitamin B2 is also known as riboflavin, and is an important member of the B-vitamin family.

Key points about vitamin B2 (riboflavin)

• Ribo = Sugar, Flavin = yellowish. Riboflavin has a molecular structure similar to the sugar molecule-ribose, and its color is yellowish, hence the name riboflavin.
• Major dietary source of riboflavin is milk and milk products.
• Other dietary source of riboflavin are: whole cereals and pulses
• Fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers are a poor source of riboflavin, but dark colored vegetables are an exception.

How stable is vitamin B2?

Riboflavin is fairly stable to cooking and heat, but using excessive water for cooking and discarding the water causes significant loss of vitamin B2. Prolonged exposure to light causes its destruction due to UV light.

Defficiency Symptoms of Vitamin B2?

Defficiency of Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is generally associated with defficiency of other B vitamins. It is common in people who do not consume milk or milk products or non-veg. foods like chicken, mutton, eggs, fish etc.

Storage in the body and toxicity of riboflavin

Riboflavin is a water soluble vitamin. It is not stored significantly in the body, so toxicity of vitamin B2 is not documented. The Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences decided in 1998, not to set a Tolerable Upper Limit (UL) for riboflavin

RDA values of some common vitamins

Vitamin	RDA
	Sedentary Work	Moderate Work	Hard Work
Vitamin A (Retinol)	600 mcg	600 mcg	600 mcg
Vitamin A (Beta-Carotene)(Precursor of Vit-A)	4800 mcg	4800 mcg	4800 mcg
Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) (Also written as:Thiamine)	1.2 mg	1.4 mg	1.7 mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)	1.4 mg	1.6 mg	2.1 mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) (Also called: nicotinic acid and vitamin PP)	16 mg	18 mg	21 mg
Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)	5 mg	5 mg	5 mg
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)	2 mg	2 mg	2 mg
Vitamin B12	1 mcg	1 mcg	1 mcg
Beta Carotene (Precursor of Vit-A)	NA	600 mg	600 mg
Biotin	30 mcg	600 mg	600 mg
Folic acid (In the form of Diatary Folate)	200mcg	200mcg	200mcg
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)	40 mg	40 mg	40 mg
Vitamin D	600 IU	600 IU	600 IU
Vitamin E	22 IU	22 IU	22 IU

Indian Food Sources of vitamin B1 (Thiamin)

Nutrition table showing Top 25 Thiamine vitamin B1-rich Indian foods per 100 grams

Indian Food item	Thiamine Vitamin B1 per 100 g. % of RDA
Til (Sesame Seeds)	1.01 mg67.3 % of RDA
Moongphalli (Groundnut, Peanut)	0.9 mg60 % of RDA
Soyabean (White) Seeds	0.73 mg48.7 % of RDA
Charoli, Chirongi (Piyal Seeds)	0.68 mg45.3 % of RDA
Pista (Pistachio Nut)	0.67 mg44.7 % of RDA
Rai (Mustard)	0.65 mg43.3 % of RDA
Kaaju (Cashew)	0.63 mg42 % of RDA
Halim (Garden Cress Seeds)	0.59 mg39.3 % of RDA
Simlamirchi (Capsicum)	0.55 mg36.7 % of RDA
Chavli (Cow Peas)	0.51 mg34 % of RDA
Doodh (Milk) Powder (Skimmed)	0.5 mg 33.3 % of RDA
Chana (Bengal Gram) Daal	0.48 mg32 % of RDA
Moong (Green Gram) Daal	0.47 mg31.3 % of RDA
Moong (Green Gram) (Whole)	0.47 mg31.3 % of RDA
Peas (Dry)	0.47 mg31.3 % of RDA
Arhar, Tuar (Bengal Gram) Daal	0.45 mg30 % of RDA
Matki (Moth Beans)	0.45 mg30 % of RDA
Akrod (Walnut)	0.45 mg30 % of RDA
Genhoo (Wheat)	0.45 mg30 % of RDA
Masur (Lentil)	0.45 mg30 % of RDA
Kulthi (Horse Gram)	0.42 mg28 % of RDA
Udad (Black Gram) Daal	0.42 mg28 % of RDA
Ragi (Finger Millet)	0.42 mg28 % of RDA
Maka (Maize)	0.42 mg28 % of RDA
Moongphalli (Groundnut) (Roasted)	0.39 mg26 % of RDA
RDA For ThiamineB1 is 1.5 mg