Translations:Riboflavin/46/en

In 1935, Paul Gyorgy, in collaboration with chemist Richard Kuhn and physician T. Wagner-Jauregg, reported that rats kept on a B₂-free diet were unable to gain weight. Isolation of B₂ from yeast revealed the presence of a bright yellow-green fluorescent product that restored normal growth when fed to rats. The growth restored was directly proportional to the intensity of the fluorescence. This observation enabled the researchers to develop a rapid chemical bioassay in 1933, and then isolate the factor from egg white, calling it ovoflavin. The same group then isolated the a similar preparation from whey and called it lactoflavin. In 1934, Kuhn's group identified the chemical structure of these flavins as identical, settled on "riboflavin" as a name, and were also able to synthesize the vitamin.