The History of Aminos

Amino acids (proteins) account for 20% of our body weaight followed by water which accounts for 60-70% of our body weight. Thus, a person weighing 50 kg consists of about 10 kg of proteins, which make up important tissues of the body such as muscles, gastrointestinal tract, internal organs, hemoglobin in the blood, and the collagen of our hair and skin. The constituents of these proteins are amino acids.

In 1806 an amino acid was first discovered from asparagus shoots in France, and was named asparagine. Asparagine (abbreviated as Asn or N; Asx or B represent either asparagine or aspartic acid) is one of the 20 most common natural amino acids on Earth. It has carboxamide as the side chain's functional group. It is not an essential amino acid. Its codons are AAU and AAC.

A reaction between asparagine and reducing sugars or reactive carbonyls produces acrylamide (acrylic amide) in food when heated to sufficient temperature. These products occur in baked goods such as french fries, potato chips, and roasted coffee.

After this, cysteine, glycine, and leucine were found from urinary calculus, gelatin, and muscles/wool, respectively. All the protein-constituting amino acids were discovered by 1935. In 1866 glutamate, which is familiar to us, was isolated by Ritthausen (Germany) from gluten, a wheat protein. In 1908 Dr. Kikunae Ikeda (Japan) discovered that glutamate is the Umami component of sea tangle. After amino acids were found to be responsible for the secret of deliciousness, the various properties of amino acids were studied in Japan in great depth.

Many theories have been presented to explain the origin of life: Some claim that life is of extraterrestrial origin, some believe that life began in the atmosphere, and some hold that the sea is the cradle of life. In all cases, however, amino acids are said to be the source of life.

Some meteorites which collided with the earth after a long journey from the remotest corner of the universe contain amino acids. Trace amounts of glycine, alanine, glutamate, and -alanine were detected in a meteorite that struck Murchison (Australia) in 1969. The amino acids in meteorites are considered a trace of life elsewhere in the universe. A trilobite fossil dating back to 500 million years ago was found to contain amino acids such as alanine. Science continues its search for an answer to the intriguing mystery of the origin of life by studying the amino acids detected in fossils and meteorites. Amino acids are important substances which create life itself