an amino acid obtainable by the hydrolysis of most common proteins. Among the first of the amino acids to be discovered (1819), in muscle fibre and wool, it is present in large proportions (about 15 percent) in hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying pigment of red blood cells) and is one of several so-called essential amino acids for rats, fowl, and man; i.e., they cannot synthesize it and require dietary sources. In plants and microorganisms it is synthesized from pyruvic acid (a product of the breakdown of carbohydrates).
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