Amino Acid Production

The amino acid business is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. All twenty amino acids are sold, albeit each in greatly different quantities (Table 1). Amino acids are used as animal feed additives (lysine, methionine, threonine), flavor enhancers (monosodium glutamic, serine, aspartic acid) and as specialty nutrients in the medical field. Glutamic acid, lysine and methionine account for the majority, by weight, of amino acids sold. Glutamic acid and lysine are made by fermentation; methionine is made by chemical synthesis. The major producers of amino acids are based in Japan, the US, South Korea, China and Europe.