ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the chemical and functional properties of thiamin and aims to apply that information to athletic endeavors. Thiamin contains pyrimidine and thiazol moieties attached by a methylene group with a molecular weight of about 300.8 Da as thiamin hydrochloride. Industrially, thiamin, in its phosphorylated form, can be synthesized using chemical or enzymatic methods. Enzymatic methods achieve higher yields of phosphorylated thiamin than chemical methods, which require many steps including phosphorylation of thiamin, purification and crystallization. In the small intestine, particularly the proximal part, free thiamin is directly absorbed. Thiamin is transported by active absorption and passive diffusion from the brush border membrane and basolateral membrane in the small intestine. Many procedures have been used for thiamin determination, including biological, microbiological and chemical methods. The digestion and absorption of the thiamin are important processes in thiamin metabolism. Excretion of absorbed thiamin occurs in both the urine and feces, and small amounts in sweat.
