How many vitamins have been discovered to date?

The correct answer is that 13 vitamins have been discovered to date. This includes both the water-soluble vitamins, which comprise vitamin C and the B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, biotin, folate, and cobalamin), and the fat-soluble vitamins, which include vitamins A, D, E, and K. The identification of these vitamins has been pivotal in understanding nutritional science, as each vitamin plays a unique role in maintaining health, supporting metabolic processes, and preventing deficiencies that can lead to various health issues.

Beyond the established 13 vitamins, there may be additional compounds that exhibit vitamin-like activity in the body, but they have not yet reached the classification of vitamins universally recognized in human nutrition. Thus, it's important to be precise when stating the number of vitamins, as scientific consensus attributes the count to these 13 essential nutrients.