The Amino Acids Precursory to Proteins Are Primary Human Food: Proline, Glutamine, and Arginine Found Free in the Juices of Common Vegetables and Herbs

Abstract

Selection of vegetable, salad, and fruit plant crops for the free amino acids is now a potential direction for agriculture. It is both general and specific, with a broad horizon that focuses on improving our nutrition and, as a result, our health. We present analyses for the free amino acids in the juices of the pods of a dozen bush beans, six varieties of cucumbers, the petals of two sunflowers, the leaves of three radicchios, shingiku and fenugreek, two chicories, an endive, licorice root, and garbanzo bean miso. Analysis of total and free amino acids in commercial organic garbanzo bean miso shows that about 60% of the total protein is fermented into free amino acids. Analyses of free amino acids in the fresh juices of a dozen onions are also presented. Glutamine, arginine, threonine, and asparagine were found to be most abundant. The innermost bulb leaves are 9 times higher in arginine than the outermost. A green and a white broccoli were analyzed an inch at a time for free amino acids. The stems and tops were found to be very similar in content and distribution. The most abundant free amino acids found were glutamine, glutamic acid, serine, and alanine. Ratios of glutamine to glutamic acid differed. Unusually large amounts of proline were found in licorice root and in several other legumes. A summary of the highest proline concentrations in fresh juices is provided for 33 sources. Summaries for free glutamine and arginine in a variety of vegetables are also provided. The roles of proline in cellular biochemistry, collagen biosynthesis, and body flexibility are discussed in the context that all the amino acids used in protein synthesis will be found to act at several principal levels of body and organ physiology beyond that currently recognized and understood. The essential nutritional roles of arginine and glutamine in a variety of physiological processes at the cell, organ, and whole body levels are also discussed. Their presence in the juices of common vegetables is an unheralded aspect of the importance of vegetables in our diets.