ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the determination of reasonable dietary ratios of amino acids and the effect of those ratios on physiological responses. Dietary amino acids (AA) provide nitrogen, essential carbon skeletons and energy for synthesis of protein, purines, pyrimidines, biogenic amines and various other biological molecules. The AA may be divided into the nutritional classifications of indispensable (IAA), conditionally indispensable (CAA), and dispensable (DAA) based on absolute ability or relative rates of synthesis in vivo (Table 1). Diets can often be evaluated based on the relative concentrations of these three categories of AA and their abilities to stimulate different physiological responses, such as rate of growth, tissue AA concentrations, etc. Nutritional Classification of Amino Acids<xref ref-type="fn" rid="t1fn1_1"> <sup>a</sup> </xref> https://www.niso.org/standards/z39-96/ns/oasis-exchange/table">
Indispensable
Conditionally indispensable
Dispensable
Isoleucine
Glutamate
Leucine
Glutamine
Valine
Aspartate
Tryptophan
Asparagine
Threonine
Serine
Histidine
Proline
Methionine
Cysteine
Glycine
Phenylalanine
Tyrosine
Alanine
Lysine
Arginine
List shown for most mammals.
