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Product details

About The L-Isoleucine

1. Basic information

Chemical name: L-isoleucine, English name “L-Isoleucine”, abbreviated as “Ile”, its systematic name is (2S,3S)-2-amino-3-methylvaleric acid.

Chemical formula: C₆H₁₃NO₂.

Relative molecular mass: 131.17.

CAS registration number: 73-32-5.

2. Structural characteristics

L-isoleucine belongs to α-amino acid, and its molecule contains an amino group (-NH₂), a carboxyl group (-COOH), an isopropyl side chain and a methyl side chain. Its structural characteristics give it unique physical and chemical properties and biological functions. The specific configuration of its chiral center (2S, 3S) determines that it has a high degree of stereoselectivity when it interacts with the corresponding receptors in the body.

3. Physical and chemical properties

Appearance: white crystals or crystalline powder, with a special smell.

Solubility: slightly soluble in water, almost insoluble in organic solvents such as ethanol and ether.

Isoelectric point: about 6.02. At the isoelectric point, L-isoleucine has the lowest solubility in the solution, is electrically neutral, and is easy to precipitate from the solution.

Optical activity: As an L-type amino acid, it has optical activity and can rotate plane polarized light, which is also one of the important characteristics that distinguish it from the D-type isomer.

4. Source

Natural source: It is widely present in nature and is commonly found in various protein-rich foods, such as meat, fish, eggs, beans, and dairy products. It is one of the essential amino acids for the human body and needs to be taken from food to meet the body’s normal physiological needs.

Industrial production sources: It can be produced by fermentation, using specific microbial strains (such as certain bacteria, fungi, etc.) under suitable fermentation conditions, using glucose, ammonium salts, etc. as raw materials, and synthesizing L-isoleucine through microbial metabolism; chemical synthesis can also be used, but chemical synthesis often requires multiple steps of complex chemical reactions and subsequent separation, purification and other operations to obtain high-purity products, and issues such as the separation of optical isomers must be considered.

5. Physiological function

Participate in protein synthesis: It is one of the basic units that constitute protein, and plays an indispensable role in the synthesis of many protein substances such as muscles, enzymes, hormones, etc. in the human body. It is of great significance to maintain the normal tissue structure and physiological function of the body.

Nutritional metabolism regulation: It participates in the regulation of human sugar metabolism, fat metabolism, etc. For example, it can participate in the generation of other nitrogen-containing compounds through transamination, etc., and helps to maintain the body’s nitrogen balance, cooperate with other amino acids, and ensure the smooth progress of the body’s energy metabolism and material metabolism.

Immunomodulation: It plays a certain role in maintaining the normal function of the immune system. Appropriate L-isoleucine levels contribute to the normal development and proliferation of immune cells and the synthesis of immune-related proteins, thereby helping the body resist the invasion of external pathogens.

6. Application areas

Food industry: It is often added as a nutritional enhancer to some special foods, such as infant formula, nutritional supplements for athletes, etc., to supplement the essential amino acids needed by the human body and improve the nutritional composition of food.

Medical field: It is one of the important ingredients in some amino acid infusion preparations. It can be used to supplement the body’s amino acid deficiency caused by diseases and other reasons, and assist in the nutritional support treatment of patients; in addition, in some drug research and development, its structural characteristics can also be used as a reference for the design of lead compounds and the development of drugs with specific pharmacological activities.

Feed industry: Adding it to animal feed can help improve the growth performance of animals, improve meat quality, etc., ensure the nutritional balance of farmed animals, and promote the healthy development of the breeding industry.

7. Quality standards and testing

During the production and use process, there are strict quality standards. For example, China, the United States, the European Union, etc. have formulated corresponding food-grade, pharmaceutical-grade and other L-isoleucine quality standards for different purposes, and have clear limits on its purity, impurity content (including heavy metals, other amino acid impurities, etc.), optical rotation and other indicators.

The commonly used detection methods include high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which accurately determines the content and purity of L-isoleucine in the sample by comparing the retention time and peak area with the standard; there are also automatic amino acid analyzers, which can simultaneously analyze the composition and content of multiple amino acids, so as to accurately determine whether the quality of L-isoleucine meets the corresponding requirements.