The important nutrient Vitamin B3, or niacin, has been found in asteroid pieces that have crashed on Earth, a new study has revealed.

Scientists hypothesize that ice combined with radiation to create a niacin-producing chemical reaction, Live Science reported. It is believed that asteroids and comets colliding with Earth could have brought amino acids, vitamins and other chemicals to the planet.

The study's findings suggest that the right combination of dust and ice could produce the molecules needed for Vitamin B3.

"Vitamin B3 is essential to metabolism and likely very ancient in origin," lead study author Karen Smith of Pennsylvania State University said in a statement quoted by Live Science.

Publishing their findings in mid-April in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Smith and her colleagues discovered niacin in eight meteorites that were rich in carbon.

The vitamin B3 levels in the space rocks ranged from 30 to 600 parts per billion, according to the study. Pyridine carboxylic acids and pyridine dicarboxylic acids were additionally found in the asteroid fragments.

The researchers found a connection 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, as quoted by Live Science.

In the lab, the scientists experimented to see if the vitamin, which isn't produced by the human body and must be consumed in the diet, could potentially form in space.

 "We showed that the synthesis of vitamin B3 might be possible on ice grains," said Smith. 

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