Figure: General structure of an amino acid. Sourced from Smokefoot, Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
The names of the 20 naturally occurring amino acids can be tricky to remember. A common tip is to create two mnemonics, one for essential amino acids (those we need to source from our diet) and one for non-essential amino acids (those that can be produced in the body under normal conditions). Here are the two that I personally use, they’re a bit silly, but they seem to work.
Essential Amino Acids
The Mouse Plays His Violin In The Lion’s Lounge
Tryptophan Methionine Phenylalanine Histidine Valine Isoleucine Threonine Leucine Lysine
Non-Essential Amino Acids
Always Selling Golden Apples Pears And Grapes At The Cricket Ground
Alanine Serine Glutamate Arginine Proline Aspartate Glutamine Asparagine Tyrosine Cysteine Glycine
Hope this helps.
Joe.
Science and Joe 