Scientists have revealed that carbon-rich meteorites had brought vitamin B3, also known as niacin, on ancient earth. Scientists funded by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have derived the conclusion after studying a group of eight ancient, carbon-rich meteorites. The results of the study provided enough evidence to believe that niacin was delivered to ancient earth by meteorites.

The amount of vitamin B3 found in the eight meteorites ranged from 30 to 600 parts per billion. During the cosmic events that created a solar system, a lot of the earth's initial niacin supply originated in space. The meteorites later on brought niacin on earth and got degraded by natural processes like erosion, thereby leeching niacin into the environment.

Niacin is a precursor to an amine called nicotinamide adenine dinuclotide (NAD). Amines are vital for the formation of amino acids that are important building blocks for molecular proteins.

Vitamin B3 plays a very essential role for metabolism, said lead study author Karen Smith of Pennsylvania State University.

The findings of the study have been published in mid-April in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Apart from niacin, the researchers also found pyridine carboxylic acids and pyridine dicarboxylic acids in the asteroid fragments.

The study has also helped in establishing a link between levels of Vitamin B3 and the effects of water on the meteorites. "We discovered a pattern--less vitamin B3 was found in meteorites that came from asteroids that were more altered by liquid water", said Smith.

The aim behind conducting the study in the lab was to see if vitamin was formed in space or not. Vitamin is not produced by the human body and humans have to depend on dietary resources for its consumption.

It has been suggested by previous studies that vitamin B3 could have been produced on ancient earth through a non-biological process.