Discovery of vitamin E

Vitamin E was first discovered at the University of California at Berkeley by Herbert Evans and Katherine Bishop in 1922. They characterized as a fat soluble nutritional factor during reproductive studies with rats. 

First named factor X and the antisterility factor, the vitamin was later designated vitamin E by Bishop.

A vitamin E active compound was isolated from wheat germ oil in 1936. At this point the Evans research group named the compound alpha-tocopherol.

The term tocopherol is derived from the Greek word tokos, which means ‘childbirth’ and phero, which means ‘to bear or bring forth’.

Tocotrienols discovery came much later, in 1965, but existed for almost 20 years as an obscure vitamin E. Recognition for tocotrienols began to emerge on the early 1980s at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, through the efforts of Asaf Qureshi and Charles Elson.

In the 1930’s and 1940’s two Canadian cardiologists, Wilfred and Evan Shute treated 30,000 patients with natural vitamin E and reported considerable success in reversing heart disease.

In 2001, researchers discovered that vitamin E from food and supplements may help slow mental decline and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Discovery of vitamin E