Niacin
Niacin, also called nicotinic acid, is pyridine-3-carboxylic acid, one of the two commercial forms of vitamin B3 and the precursor from which the body builds the coenzymes NAD and NADP.
Those two coenzymes carry hydride between substrates in several hundred oxidation and reduction reactions, from glycolysis and the citric acid cycle to fatty acid synthesis, which is why deficiency produces the systemic disease pellagra rather than a single organ effect. Niacin differs from its amide, nicotinamide, in one respect that matters commercially: the free acid causes cutaneous vasodilation, the flushing response, at doses well above nutritional levels, while the amide does not.
It is a white to off-white crystalline powder, odourless or with a faint characteristic odour, melting a little above 235 degrees Celsius with decomposition. It is sparingly soluble in cold water and much more soluble in hot water and in dilute alkali, where it forms the salt. In the dry state it is remarkably stable, tolerating heat, light and air, and it survives baking, extrusion and retorting essentially intact, which makes it one of the easiest vitamins to use in a fortification premix. In solution it is stable across a wide pH range, though it will decarboxylate under prolonged strong heating.
We source bulk Niacin from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Vitamin
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | White to off-white crystalline powder |
| Identification | Infrared spectrum conforms to reference standard |
| Assay, dried basis | 99.0 to 100.5% |
| Melting Range | 234 to 240 °C |
| Related Substances | Any single impurity ≤ 0.2%, total ≤ 0.5% |
| Nicotinamide | ≤ 0.1% |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 0.5% |
| Residue on Ignition | ≤ 0.1% |
| pH, 1% aqueous solution | 3.0 to 4.0 |
| Chloride | ≤ 0.02% |
| Heavy Metals | ≤ 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 2.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 2.0 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 1,000 cfu/g |
Common Markets Grades
The dominant article is crystalline niacin assaying between 99.0 and 100.5 percent on the dried basis, produced to the United States Pharmacopeia and European Pharmacopoeia monographs and sold to food, supplement and pharmaceutical users alike. Feed grade material is made to the same assay but with looser appearance and residue criteria.
Physical form is where the grades actually diverge. Fine crystalline, granular and micronised versions are traded, with granular grades chosen for direct compression tableting because the fine crystal flows poorly, and micronised grades chosen where content uniformity at low dose in a premix is the limiting factor. Coated and encapsulated grades exist for sustained release supplements intended to blunt the flushing response. Sodium niacinate is sold as a more soluble salt for liquid applications, and dilutions of niacin on a carrier such as dicalcium phosphate or maltodextrin are made for premix blending.
Applications
- Flour, bread and cereal fortification, where niacin is a mandated addition in several national programmes
- Multivitamin tablets and capsules, as the B3 component of the B complex
- Breakfast cereals and cereal bars, added through a dry vitamin premix
- Fortified beverages and energy drinks, using the sodium salt or a soluble dilution
- Infant formula and follow on formula, where niacin is a mandated nutrient
- Clinical and enteral nutrition, supplying the vitamin in tube fed preparations
- Sports nutrition powders and meal replacements, contributing the declared B vitamin profile
- Poultry, swine and ruminant feed, where niacin supports energy metabolism and, in dairy cattle, ketosis management
- Aquaculture feed, included in the vitamin premix for farmed fish and shrimp
- Pharmaceutical preparations, where high dose nicotinic acid has been used in lipid management
Brands Using Niacin
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Niacin on the ingredient label.
- NutricostVitamin B3 Niacin Capsules ↗A single ingredient niacin capsule sold as vitamin B3.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Natural FactorsNiacin 100 mg ↗Tablets supplying 100 mg of niacin as vitamin B3 for energy metabolism and nervous system support.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Natural FactorsNo Flush Niacin 500 mg ↗A 500 mg niacin capsule in the no-flush format, sold alongside the brand's standard niacin.Label verified 2026-08-31
- HostessTwinkies ↗Niacin is named inside the enriched flour of these snack cakes, part of the standard enrichment blend with thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Niacin
Top Niacin manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States niacin is affirmed as generally recognised as safe for use as a nutrient in food under 21 CFR 184.1530, and it is one of the vitamins required in enriched flour and other enriched grain products under the standards of identity in 21 CFR Part 137. The United States Pharmacopeia carries a monograph for niacin, and high dose nicotinic acid products for lipid management are regulated as drugs rather than as supplements.
In the European Union niacin is not a food additive and has no E number. Nicotinic acid and nicotinamide are both listed among the permitted forms of niacin for the addition of vitamins to foods under Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 and for food supplements under Directive 2002/46/EC, and niacin is a mandatory nutrient in infant and follow on formula under the compositional rules for those products. Feed use is authorised under the European feed additives regulation, where niacin is a nutritional additive. The European Pharmacopoeia carries a monograph for nicotinic acid, and Codex references niacin in its nutrient standards for infant and special purpose foods.
Manufacturing Process
Essentially all commercial niacin starts from 3-methylpyridine, known as 3-picoline, which is itself made by condensing acetaldehyde or acrolein with ammonia over a zeolite catalyst. The picoline is subjected to vapour phase ammoxidation, reacting with ammonia and air over a vanadium based catalyst at high temperature, which converts the methyl group to a nitrile and gives 3-cyanopyridine. This intermediate is purified by distillation and crystallisation and is the branch point of the whole vitamin B3 industry, since it also feeds nicotinamide production.
To make the acid, 3-cyanopyridine is hydrolysed all the way through the amide to the carboxylate, usually with aqueous sodium hydroxide under heat, with the ammonia released being recovered and recycled. The resulting sodium niacinate solution is decoloured on activated carbon, filtered, and then acidified with a mineral acid to the isoelectric point, at which niacin, being poorly soluble in cold water, crystallises out. The crystals are separated on a centrifuge, washed with cold water, recrystallised where pharmacopoeial purity is required, dried in a vacuum or fluid bed dryer, then milled or granulated and screened to the target particle size before packing.
