amino acid

Classifications are made based on the available commercial supply of the ingredient, and are made based on the criteria on our classifications page.

Commercially available amino acid may be vegan depending on the source and may be vegetarian depending on the source.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Although present in most animals, the vast majority of commercially available amino acids are produced by bacterial fermentation. This fermentation process typically involves adding genetically modified bacteria to tanks, along with a carbon source, a nitrogen source, and appropriate concentrations of phosphate, magnesium, and other minerals and vitamins. The primary carbon source is sugar from corn, beets, or cane molasses. The nitrogen source is usually inorganic ammonia and ammonium sulfate. For the vitamins and minerals "cheap natural nutrients of plant and animal origin are industrially used for economic reasons." For this reason, we classify it as maybe vegan.

Note that specific amino acids may sometimes still be commercially produced by hydrolysis of animal proteins. For example, l-cysteine is primarily obtained from duck feathers.

Sources

1. Ikeda, M. (2002). Amino Acid Production Processes. Microbial Production of L-Amino Acids, 1–35.
   https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45989-8_1