Amino acid is the building block of protein, since all protein is made up by the collection of amino acids.
Although sometimes the final products of protein can be minerals or non-protein compounds, the roots of these proteins still remain amino acids.
Types of Amino Acids
1. Essential amino acids
2. Non-essential amino acids
3. Conditional Amino acid
All kinds of amino acids contain similar basic design. There are two kinds as follows;
- Nitrogen containing amino acids portion and
- Carboxylic acid portion attached to a central carbon atom.
The combination of the above two together form the amino acids as shown in the figure below;
How Amino Acids Is Obtained and Used?
Amino acids are always obtained from animal products. The best start with including eggs, beef, chicken, pork and fish is the animal product which contains a promising amount of protein.
Protein obtained in the intestine then broken down into amino acids. The amino acids must be absorbed in the body to perform various functions.
How Many Amount of Amino Acids Available in the Protein?
There are probably thousands if not hundreds of amino acids available in the protein but the most famous one is twenty which contain almost all kinds of protein needed in our body.
These amino acids can be found in birds, lizards, plants, bacteria, fangs, yeast and so on.
Table below shows all twenty amino acids which are very useful in the creation of protein.
Those mentioned above is very important during the period of growth (source)
Function of Amino Acids
- Amino acids facilitate the production of new cells.
- Tryptophan is the kind of amino acid which is used to make certain neurotransmitters in the brain.