AA"s what do they break down into

[Bugger]

Do amino acids break down into phosphate or is it tottaly just purely nitrate

 

[rkpetersen]

None of the most common amino acids contain phosphorus. I'm not sure if any do. A few contain sulfur. Thyroid hormone, levothyroxine, is an amino acid and contains iodine. Otherwise it's HCNO.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Assuming they are pure amino acids and not just hydrolyzed proteins, they will be metabolized to ammonia/nitrate, CO2, water, and possibly sulfate.

If they are an impure hydrolyzed protein mixture, then it may contain phosphate since many proteins are phosphorylated.

 

[MnFish1]

In this respect amino acids fall into three categories: glucogenic, ketogenic, or glucogenic and ketogenic. Glucogenic amino acids are those that give rise to a net production of pyruvate or TCA cycleintermediates, such as 2-oxoglutarate (α-ketoglutarate) or oxaloacetate, all of which are precursors to glucose via gluconeogenesis. All amino acids except lysine and leucine are at least partly glucogenic. Lysine and leucine are the only amino acids that are solely ketogenic, giving rise only to acetyl-CoA or acetoacetyl-CoA, neither of which can bring about net glucose production.

Amino acids are the chemical formula -OOC -RH-NH2 - so breakdown ---> ammonia --->urea excreted by the kidney, water, CO2 and depending on what the R group is - other things. but there are many pathways in the body that use amino acids to form other compounds (proteins, glucose, etc etc) - so most of the amino acids are taken in and used by the organism.

I dont think living things excrete nitrate itself.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I dont think living things excrete nitrate itself.

Not even nitrifying bacteria?

 

[MnFish1]

Not even nitrifying bacteria?

I meant living things like 'humans, fish, etc'. But point taken