Tag: digestive disorders

Vitamins with some enzymes act as coenzyme. Coenzymes are organic non protein molecules that bind with the protein molecule (apoenzyme) to form the active enzyme (holoenzyme). A number of the water-soluble vitamins such as vitamins B$ _1$, B$ _2$ and B$ _6$ serve as coenzymes.

Co-factor is a non-protein chemical compound that is required for the protein's biological activity. These molecules are commonly enzymes and co-factors can be helper molecules that assist in biochemical transformations such as vitamins.
Co-factors can be subdivided into either one or more inorganic ions , or a complex organic or metallo-organic molecule, called as a co-enzyme, most of which are derived from vitamins.
An inactive enzyme without the co-factor is called an apoenzyme while the complete enzyme with the co-factor is called as a holoenzyme.

In 1911, Casimir Funk isolated a concentrate from rice polishings that cured polyneuritis in pigeons. He named the concentrate vitamin because it appeared to be vital to life and because it was probably an amine.

Non-protein components of certain enzymes are called cofactors. If the cofactor is organic, then it is called a coenzyme. Coenzyme is relatively small molecules compared to the protein part of the enzyme and many of the coenzymes are derived from vitamins