What are Amino Acids?

Amino acids refer to the basic structural building units of proteins. They generally form short polymer chains called peptides which will once again form structures called proteins. All the essential proteins cannot be manufactured by the body itself. There are totally nine essential building blocks of proteins. Some of them should be supplied by the food. The formation of protein from an mRNA template is called as translation. This process is part of protein synthesis.

Totally twenty amino acids are recognized as proteinogenic or standard amino acids by the standard genetic code. Two amino acids are also coded by DNA in a non- standard manner. They are Selenocysteine and pyrrolysine. Selenocysteine is incorporated into some proteins at a UGA codon and Pyrrolysine is coded with the codon UAG. Amino acids have protein synthesis. In addition to protein synthesis, they also have other biologically important roles. There are several standard amino acids in proteins like Glycine and glutamate. They are neurotransmitters as well.

More Glossary Terms Explained here

White Papers

Healthy Snacks
Snack food industry trends
Beverages and Foods

Suggest an Article

Haven´t found the article you are looking for, please suggest your article. We value all your suggestions and comments.

Home |