February 2025

Digestion and absorption Amino acids chemically bound in proteins must be separated from the parent protein unit, before they can pass from the lumen of the gut across the intestinal wall (absorption) into the blood. This separation occurs in the lumen of the gut with the help of proteolytic digestive enzymes (proteases). The activity of…

Amino acids are characterised by the two characteristic functional groups in the molecule, as indicated by their nomenclature, by the amino group NH2 and the carboxyl group COOH. Amino acids occur exclusively as structural protein units in which the amino group is bound to the α-position of the carboxylic acid group (carboxyl group). Chemically amino…