Health and Fitness

Amino acids are precursors of protein. Several different amino acids after joining by chemical bonds form a protein structure. The chemical and other properties of protein depend upon the sequence of amino acids in the chain.

There will be two separate protein molecules if the sequence of the amino acids is different, no matter if the combination of amino acids is same in two proteins.

Branched chain amino acids are non-linear amino acids containing aliphatic side chain. There are three amino acids in this category – valine, leucine and isoleucine. These three amino acids are very essential to build the skeletal and muscular structure in our body. They also produce different proteins in different combinations. At present, there is much discussion about branched chain amino acids in lowering mental fatigue as it is seen that they can reduce the serotonin level in the brain. They are also used to treat burn patients in their convalescence stage.

An essential amino acid is such that it can not be synthesized de novo, i.e. our body can not synthesize this amino acid from other resources.

Therefore, this group of amino acid has to be supplied by food. There are nine essential amino acids – lysine, leucine, isoleucine, histidine, valine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine and tryptophan.

The non-essential amino acids can be synthesized in our body. They are – alanine, cysteine, cystine, glutamic acid, glutathione, glycine, serine, taurine, threonine, asparagine and proline.

According to biochemistry, an amino acid refers to a molecule which contains both the amine and the carboxyl group. This is most pertinent for the α-amino acids having the general chemical formula H₂NCHR-COOH. Here R denotes any organic molecule. The α-carbon is the common carbon molecule, where all the carboxylate groups and the amine component are attached. The amino acids differ from one another by the attachment of side chain (the R group).

The size of amino acids varies quite a lot. The simplest amino acid is glycine, where the R group is replaced by a single hydrogen atom one of the most complex amino acids tryptophan, where the R-group is denoted by a larger heterocyclic group.

Amino acids play a major role in building the protein and act as the mediator in different bodily metabolisms. The exact amino acid content with the progression of the base molecule is the determinant of a protein. The chemical properties of the structural amino acids are the responsible factor of biological nature of the protein. Even a single change of the amino acid sequence can change the protein structure as a whole and the resultant protein will act differently.

Amino acids coalesce together to form the peptides and the peptides combine to form the polypeptides or the proteins.

Apart from forming protein, different amino acid act as a precursor of different organic molecules in our body.