Classification of Amino Acids

 Amino acids can be classified into three group:

1 On the Basis of the Carbon Chain:  amino acids are of three types: 

i) Aliphatic Amino Acids: These are further classified into four

a) Neutral (Monoamino-Monocarboxylic Acids)

 example:- glycine, alanine, serine, threonine, valine, leucine, and isoleucine.

 b) Acidic (Monoamino-Dicarboxylic Acids):

example:-glutamine aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid

c) Basic

example:- 

arginine, 

lysine

 hydroxylysine.  

d) Sulphur Containing Amino Acids

example:- cysteine, cystine (dicysteine), and methionine. 

ii) Aromatic Amino Acids

example:- phenylalanine, tyrosine, and thyroxine.

iii) Heterocyclic Amino Acids :

example:-

 proline 

histidine 

hydroxyproline 

tryptophan 

2) On the Basis of Nutritional Requirement

 Amino acids are of two types. 

i ) Essential Amino Acids(EAA)

 Also termed as indispensable amino acids.

They are not synthesised in the body and are obtained from dietary sources 

Examples  valine , isoleucine , tryptophan , methionine , leucine , phenylalanine , threonine , and lysine . 

Exceptionally , histidine and arginine are indicated as semi - essential amino acids as a little amount of them are synthesised in the body . Deficiency of these amino acids may give adverse effects like retarded growth , weak immunity , early ageing , etc. 

ii ) Non - Essential Amino Acids : These amino acids are also termed as dispensable amino acids , and are synthesised in the body 

Examples  glycine , serine , threonine , glutamate , glutamine , aspartate asparagine , cysteine , and proline , 

Table 1.1 : Essential and Non - Essential Amino Acids 

Essential            │   Non - Essential 

Valine                 │    Glycine 

Isoleucine          │    Tyrosine 

Tryptophan       │   Proline 

Methionine        │  Cysteine 

Arginine             │  Aspartic acid 

Leucine               │ Alanine 

Phenylalanine   │  Serine 

Threonine          │  Hydroxyproline 

Lysine                 │  Cystine 

Histidine             │  Glutamic acid

3 ) On the Basis of Polarity : On the basis of polarity, amino acids are of four types :

 i ) Non-Polar Amino Acids :

 example:- alanine , valine , leucine , isoleucine , phenylalanine , glycine , tryptophan , methionine , and proline ) are neutral molecules having an equal number of amino and carboxyl groups . The nature of these amino acids is hydrophobic and the ' R ' side chain does not have any charges

ii) Polar Amino Acids with No Charge : These amino acids do not bear any charge on the side chain ' R ' . 

example:-

serine

threonine

tyrosine

cysteine

glutamine

asparagine

They are involved in hydrogen bonding of protein structure . 

iii) Polar Amino Acids with Positive Charge

example:- lysine , arginine ,and histidine) carry more number of amino groups . thus , are basic in nature , The ' R side chain of these amino acids bears a positive charge .

iv ) Polar Amino Acids with Negative Charge :

example:- (aspartic acid and glutamic acid ) are acidic in nature because they carry more number of carboxyl groups . The ' R ' group of these amino acids bears negative charge. These amino acids are also termed as dicarboxylic mono-amino acids

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