Alanine

Alanine (Ala or A) is an amino acid present in proteins.

Structure of alanine

Like all of the amino acids, alanine has two functional groups, a carboxyl group (COOH) and an amine group (NH2). It has the simplest side chain of all the amino acids apart from glycine, consisting only of a methyl group (-CH3).

Alanine is a hydrophobic aliphatic amino acid.

Function of alanine

Alanine is not an essential amino acid as it can be produced by the body from branched chain amino acids or pyruvate.