What’s The Application Of L-phenylalanine?

Phenylalanine, namely D, L-α-amino β-phenylpropionic acid, is a white or colorless flake crystal, with a taste of bitter almond, soluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol, insoluble in diethyl ether, melting point 283℃. It was first discovered and isolated from lupine seedlings by Schulze in 1879. Then Fischer isolated the animal protein successfully in the early 20th century. At present, phenylalanine can be industrialized production.

1.In the food industry, L-phenylalanine and L-aspartic acid condensation form aspartame (APM), because of its sweetness (200 times of sucrose), low calorific value, easy metabolism and other advantages, very suitable for obese patients and diabetics use;

2.It has been widely used in flavoring and functional food, among which L-phenylalanine and other fortified functional food processed by several amino acids can be used as health food for supersonic pilots, astronauts, submarines and deep water divers.

3.L-phenylalanine is used in baked food, on the one hand, it strengthens amino acids, but also can react with sugar, Maillard reaction, improve food flavor. Hershey has found that the addition of phenylalanine, leucine and degraded sugars to unbaked cocoa can significantly enhance the flavor of cocoa when processed.

4.In the pharmaceutical industry, it is an essential component of pharmaceutical infusion products, or synthetic raw materials or good carriers of some drugs, such as HIV protease inhibitors, p-fluorophenphenylalanine, alanine mustard, formyl lysosarcoma, brain neurotransmitter and other synthetic raw materials;

5.When used as a carrier, it can load antitumor drugs into the tumor site, which can not only inhibit tumor growth, but also greatly reduce the toxicity of tumor drugs. In addition, it can also be used to prepare medical culture medium.

Of course, the application field of L-phenylalanine is still developing. For example, Monsanto Company has developed the technology of synthesizing chiral intermediates from L-phenylalanine and its derivatives.