Amino Acids

Amino acids are nitrogen containing compounds with both amino and carboxylic acid groups and are the basic building blocks of proteins and peptides.

Amino acids are nitrogen containing compounds with both amino and carboxylic acid groups. The 20 biochemically significant amino acids have the amino and carboxylate groups attached to the same carbon atom. They are the basic building blocks of proteins and peptides, linked together in a sequence according to the genetic information encoded in the DNA molecule. The amino acids include alanine, arginine, aspargine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine, and valine. Nine essential amino acids are not manufactured by the body and must be obtained from the diet