In 1912, Polish biochemist Casimir Funk isolated a complex of micronutrients and proposed the complex be named "vitamine" (a portmanteau of "vital amine"), a name reportedly suggested by friend Max Nierenstein.
[1][2] He also studied natural phenols and tannins[3] found in different plant species.
He showed in 1945 that luteic acid, a molecule present in the myrobalanitannin, a tannin found in the fruit of Terminalia chebula, is an intermediary compound in the synthesis of ellagic acid.
[4] Working with Arthur George Perkin, he prepared ellagic acid from algarobilla and certain other fruits in 1905.
[6] Tannase is an enzyme that Niederstein used to produce m-digallic acid from gallotannins.