Vitamin K3
Vitamin K3 is menadione, 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone, a synthetic naphthoquinone that carries the redox active ring system of the K vitamins without the long isoprenoid side chain found in natural phylloquinone and the menaquinones.
That missing side chain is the defining fact about it. Animals can alkylate menadione in the liver to form menaquinone-4, which is the active cofactor for the carboxylation of clotting factors and of bone proteins, so menadione functions as a provitamin in feed species. Humans are not supplemented with it: the free quinone is chemically reactive, conjugates with glutathione and thiol groups and has been associated with haemolytic effects at elevated doses, and it has therefore been excluded from human supplements and food fortification in the major markets.
Free menadione is a bright yellow crystalline solid melting near 106 degrees Celsius, practically insoluble in water, soluble in ethanol, vegetable oils and chlorinated solvents. It is unstable to light, alkali and reducing conditions and it sublimes readily, and it is a strong skin and respiratory irritant, so it is almost never shipped or used as the free quinone. Commercial vitamin K3 is instead traded as a bisulphite addition complex, in which the quinone is converted into a water soluble, non volatile and far less irritant salt that releases menadione in the gut.
We source bulk Vitamin K3 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.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Vitamin
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Bright yellow crystalline powder |
| Identification | Ultraviolet and infrared spectra conform to reference standard |
| Assay, as menadione | ≥ 98.0% |
| Melting Range | 105 to 108 °C |
| Related Substances | Any single impurity ≤ 0.5%, total ≤ 1.0% |
| 2-Methylnaphthalene | ≤ 0.1% |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 0.5% |
| Residue on Ignition | ≤ 0.2% |
| Chromium | ≤ 2.0 mg/kg |
| Heavy Metals | ≤ 20 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 5.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 3.0 mg/kg |
| Particle Size | ≥ 95% through 60 mesh |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 10,000 cfu/g |
Common Markets Grades
The traded articles are the bisulphite derivatives rather than menadione itself. Menadione sodium bisulphite is the simplest, containing roughly 50 percent menadione, and menadione sodium bisulphite complex, in which excess sodium bisulphite is present, carries about a third. Menadione nicotinamide bisulphite substitutes nicotinamide for sodium in the complex, delivering around 43 to 45 percent menadione together with vitamin B3 activity and offering better survival in premixes that contain trace mineral salts or choline chloride.
Within each derivative the specification points are menadione content, free menadione, moisture, particle size and, importantly, stability data in the presence of choline and trace elements, since these are the components that destroy vitamin K3 in a compound premix. Coated and microencapsulated grades are produced specifically to survive pelleting, extrusion and long premix storage. Feed grade is the only commercial category; there is no food or supplement grade.
Applications
- Broiler and layer feed, where vitamin K3 supports blood clotting and reduces bruising and haemorrhage in the carcass
- Turkey and duck feed, included in the standard vitamin premix
- Swine feed, supplied through the premix to cover the K requirement of grower and finisher diets
- Ruminant feed for young calves, before rumen microbial synthesis becomes established
- Aquaculture feed for farmed fish and shrimp, where the requirement is comparatively high
- Pet food and companion animal diets, supplied as part of the vitamin premix
- Compound vitamin premixes and concentrates, as the vitamin K component
- Milk replacers for calves and piglets, contributing the fat soluble vitamin fraction
China Manufacturers of Vitamin K3
Top Vitamin K3 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
Vitamin K3 is a feed material and is not permitted in human food or supplements in the major markets. In the European Union menadione sodium bisulphite and menadione nicotinamide bisulphite are authorised as nutritional feed additives in the vitamin K3 category under the feed additives regulation, with conditions of use set out in the individual authorising regulations. Menadione is not among the forms of vitamin K permitted for the addition of vitamins to foods under Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 or for food supplements under Directive 2002/46/EC, where phylloquinone and menaquinone are the listed forms.
In the United States the Food and Drug Administration's food additive regulations for animal feed permit menadione derivatives in animal food, while menadione is not accepted in human dietary supplements and the agency has acted against supplement products containing it. Codex and JECFA address vitamin K in nutrient standards through phylloquinone rather than through menadione. Handling in a feed mill is also subject to occupational controls, because the free quinone is a recognised skin and respiratory irritant.
Manufacturing Process
Menadione is made by oxidising 2-methylnaphthalene, a petrochemical aromatic separated from refinery streams or produced by methylating naphthalene. The oxidation converts the unsubstituted ring into a para quinone while leaving the methyl group intact. The classical industrial method uses chromic acid or sodium dichromate in sulphuric acid, which gives good selectivity but generates a large chromium containing waste stream, and plants have progressively moved to catalytic routes using hydrogen peroxide or oxygen over a transition metal catalyst to reduce that burden.
The crude menadione is separated from the aqueous phase, washed, and purified by crystallisation from an alcohol or by vacuum sublimation, since the quinone sublimes cleanly. Because free menadione is irritant, volatile and unstable, it is converted immediately into the bisulphite derivative rather than isolated as a finished product: it is reacted with an aqueous solution of sodium bisulphite, with nicotinamide added as well where the nicotinamide complex is wanted, and the addition product crystallises from the reaction liquor. The crystals are centrifuged, washed, dried at low temperature under vacuum and milled and screened, with the whole downstream sequence run away from light.
