essential amino acid

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

essential amino acid - an amino acid that is required by animals but that they cannot synthesize; must be supplied in the diet amino acid, aminoalkanoic acid - organic compounds containing an amino group and a carboxylic acid group; "proteins are composed of various proportions of about 20 common amino acids" arginine - a bitter tasting amino acid found in proteins and necessary for nutrition; its absence from the diet leads to a reduced production of spermatozoa histidine - an essential amino acid found in proteins that is important for the growth and repair of tissue isoleucine - an essential amino acid found in proteins; isomeric with leucine leucine - a white crystalline amino acid occurring in proteins that is essential for nutrition; obtained by the hydrolysis of most dietary proteins lysine - an essential amino acid found in proteins; occurs especially in gelatin and casein methionine - a crystalline amino acid containing sulfur; found in most proteins and essential for nutrition phenylalanine - an essential amino acid found in proteins and needed for growth of children and for protein metabolism in children and adults; abundant in milk and eggs; it is normally converted to tyrosine in the human body threonine - a colorless crystalline amino acid found in protein; occurs in the hydrolysates of certain proteins; an essential component of human nutrition tryptophan, tryptophane - an amino acid that occurs in proteins; is essential for growth and normal metabolism; a precursor of niacin valine - an essential amino acid found in proteins; important for growth in children and nitrogen balance in adults