Acid, pantothenic: Pantothenic acid is vitamin B5. It is one of 8 water soluble B vitamins that enables the body to break down carbohydrates into glucose to produce energy and to make red blood cells. It is present in foods as diverse as poultry, soybeans, yogurt, and sweet potatoes.
No naturally occurring disease due to a deficiency of pantothenic acid has been identified, due to the plentifulness of this vitamin.
An experimental deficiency of pantothenic acid has, however, been created by administering an antagonist to pantothenic acid. This experiment produced disease, thereby demonstrating that pantothenic acid is essential to humans.
Pantothenic acid was discovered in 1940.
