What Is Threonine & What Foods Can I Find It In?

Threonine is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins.

Threonine is an important residue of many proteins, such as tooth enamel, collagen, and elastin.

In plants and microorganisms, threonine is synthesized from aspartic acid.

Threonine Is Essential

Threonine is an essential amino acid. It’s highly concentrated in human plasma, especially in newborns.(source ◳)

There have been attempts to produce plants containing elevated concentrations of threonine and other essential amino acids, with varied outcomes. (source ◳)

Threonine is a naturally occurring amino acid, which is known to be the third most common amino acid in the blood after alanine and valine amino acids.

Benefits Of Threonine

Due to its importance in the body, threonine is an essential amino acid.

It is important for the normal growth and development of children, and for the health of adults.

Threonine is believed to be beneficial for many diseases, such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes and cancer.

Uses Of Threonine

Threonine is commonly used in the feed of livestock.

It is used in animal feeds to improve the amino acid balance in meats, to enhance the nutritive value of milk and eggs, and to improve the feed efficiency of ruminants.

Adding threonine to animal feed has led to better livestock growth and improved efficiency, as well as lowering waste. (source ◳)

Threonine is also commonly used in pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. (source ◳)

Foods You Can Find Threonine In

You find threonine mostly in dairy and eggs, american indian and alaska native food, legumes, and vegetable products.

Examples of food sources include

• Dried Egg White
• Dried Bearded Seal
• Soy Protein Isolate
• Dried Spirulina
• Atlantic Cod
• Pork Skins

Foods in our nutrition tool

You can find regularly updated, top ranked lists of foods for over 200+ nutrients in our nutrition tool.

If you are interested in what foods contain the most threonine, we recommend you visit our tool.

Here's our top ranked list of foods that contain Threonine.