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Amino Acids Are Organic Compounds That Combine To Form Proteins. Amino Acids and Proteins Are The

Amino acids are organic compounds that combine to form proteins. The human body uses amino acids to make proteins which help perform many functions like breaking down food, growth, and repairing tissues. Amino acids are classified as essential, nonessential, or conditional depending on whether the body can produce them. The 9 essential amino acids must come from food as the body cannot make them.

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89 views5 pages

Amino Acids Are Organic Compounds That Combine To Form Proteins. Amino Acids and Proteins Are The

Amino acids are organic compounds that combine to form proteins. The human body uses amino acids to make proteins which help perform many functions like breaking down food, growth, and repairing tissues. Amino acids are classified as essential, nonessential, or conditional depending on whether the body can produce them. The 9 essential amino acids must come from food as the body cannot make them.

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Astreanne
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Amino acids are organic compounds that combine to form proteins.

Amino acids and proteins are the


building blocks of life.

When proteins are digested or broken down, amino acids are left. The human body uses amino acids to
make proteins to help the body:

- Break down food


- Grow
- Repair body tissue
- Perform many other body functions
- Amino acids can also be used as a source of energy by the body.

Amino acids are classified into three groups:

Essential amino acids

Nonessential amino acids

Conditional amino acids

ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS

Essential amino acids cannot be made by the body. As a result, they must come from food.

The 9 essential amino acids are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine,
threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

NONESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS

Nonessential means that our bodies produce an amino acid, even if we do not get it from the food we eat.
Nonessential amino acids include: alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid,
glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine.

CONDITIONAL AMINO ACIDS

Conditional amino acids are usually not essential, except in times of illness and stress.

Conditional amino acids include: arginine, cysteine, glutamine, tyrosine, glycine, ornithine, proline, and
serine.

You do not need to eat essential and nonessential amino acids at every meal, but getting a balance of
them over the whole day is important. A diet based on a single plant item will not be adequate, but we
no longer worry about pairing proteins (such as beans with rice) at a single meal. Instead we look at the
adequacy of the diet overall throughout the day.
Structure of Amino Acidss

The general structure of Amino acids is H2NCH RCOOH and it can be written
as:
COOH
|
H2N – – C – – H
|
R

There are 20 naturally occurring amino acids and all have common structural
features – an amino group (-NH3+), a carboxylate (-COO-) group and a
hydrogen-bonded to the same carbon atom. They differ from each other in their
side-chain called R group. Each amino acid has 4 different groups attached to
α- carbon.
These 4 groups are:

 Amino group,
 COOH,
 Hydrogen atom,
 Sidechain (R).

Alanine C3H7NO2 Leucine C6H13NO2

Aspartic Acid C4H7NO4 Lysine C6H14N2O2

Asparagine C4H8N2O3 Methionine C5H11NO2S


Arginine C6H14N4O2 Proline C5H9NO2

Cytosine C4H5N3O Phenylalanine C9H11NO2

Cysteine C3H7NO2S Serine C3H7NO3

Glycine C2H5NO2 Tyrosine C9H11NO3

Glutamine C5H10N2O3 Threonine C4H9NO3

Histidine C6H9N3O2 Tryptophan C11H12N2O2

Isoleucine C6H13NO2 Valine C5H11NO2

General properties of Amino Acids


 They have a very high melting and boiling point.
 Amino acids are white crystalline solid substances.
 In taste, few Amino acids are sweet, tasteless, and bitter.
 Most of the amino acids are soluble in water and are insoluble in organic
solvents.

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