Vitamin B2

The term ‘vitamin B2’ indicates three compounds with vitamin B2 activity found in nature; flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and riboflavin. Vitamin B2 can be found in most unprocessed foods and at high concentrations in yeast extract liver and kidney. Meat, milk eggs and wheat bran are important dietary sources of vitamin B2 in the general population.
Because of its wide distribution in foods, symptoms of vitamin B2 deficiency are hard to distinguish in malnourished individuals due to concomitant deficiencies in other micronutrients. Experimentally, signs of deficiency are lesions of the lips (cheilosis), angles of the mouth (angular stomatitis), a fissured and magenta coloured tongue (glossitis) and follicular keratosis of the nose and forehead. The eyes can also be effected, symptoms include corneal vascularisation and photophobia.