Dietary sources of vitamin K2 (menaquinones) include chicken egg yolk, butter, beef liver, certain cheeses, and natto. Vitamin K2 may also be obtained through microbial pathways, primarily present in fermented foods or produced by gut bacteria. It has been proposed to market methylnaphthoquinone in the form of vitamin K2-containing oil, produced by fermenting soy protein isolate and corn starch in the presence of the natto-producing Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. This K2-containing oil contains vitamin K2 primarily in the form of menaquinone-7 (MK-7), with a minor amount present as menaquinone-6 (MK-6).
[1] (EFSA) E F S A. Vitamin K2 added for nutritional purposes in foods for particular nutritional uses, food supplements and foods intended for the general population and Vitamin K2 as a source of vitamin K added for nutritional purposes to foodstuffs, in the context of Regulation (EC) N° 258/97 - Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies[C]//6 11. 2008. DOI:
10.2903/j.efsa.2008.822.