Vitamin B[sub.12] in Foods, Food Supplements, and Medicines—A Review of Its Role and Properties with a Focus on Its Stability

Vitamin B[sub.12] , also known as the anti-pernicious anemia factor, is an essential micronutrient totally dependent on dietary sources that is commonly integrated with food supplements. Four vitamin B[sub.12] forms—cyanocobalamin, hydroxocobalamin, 5′-deoxyadenosylcobalamin, and methylcobalamin—are currently used for supplementation and, here, we provide an overview of their biochemical role, bioavailability, and efficacy in different dosage forms. Since the effective quantity of vitamin B[sub.12] depends on the stability of the different forms, we further provide a review of their main reactivity and stability under exposure to various environmental factors (e.g., temperature, pH, light) and the presence of some typical interacting compounds (oxidants, reductants, and other water-soluble vitamins). Further, we explore how the manufacturing process and storage affect B[sub.12] stability in foods, food supplements, and medicines and provide a summary of the data published to date on the content-related quality of vitamin B[sub.12] products on the market. We also provide an overview of the approaches toward their stabilization, including minimization of the destabilizing factors, addition of proper stabilizers, or application of some (innovative) technological processes that could be implemented and contribute to the production of high-quality vitamin B[sub.12] products.