Biochemistry Amino Acids Class Notes

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. The main components of biochemistry are – proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and various minerals such as iron, Sulphur, calcium / potassium etc. Metabolism is the sum activity of the biochemical processes happening in a humans body. Metabolism can be divided into two – catabolism and anabolism. Catabolism is the breaking down of large complex molecules, it provides building blocks and energy for anabolic reactions. Anabolism is the building up of large complex molecules which use building blocks and energy made by catabolic reactions. The large complex molecules are obtained via nutrients. Building blocks generated from catabolic reactions are used to build up the living organism. The main nutrient groups are proteins (building blocks-amino acids), carbohydrates (building blocks-monosaccharides) and lipids (building blocks-fatty acids). Proteins are essential for the maintenance of cells and tissues. A protein is a polymer made up of long chains of amino acids which are monomers. There are 20 amino acids used each of which differ in their properties, shape and structure. The difference in their sequence of which they are arranged makes the hundreds of thousands