ABSTRACT
Alternative TechnologiesA number of sources and synthetic pathways are available for the commercial production of dipeptides: They may be extracted from
natural sources, synthesized chemically, or produced through biotechnological means. 23.2.1 Extraction from Natural Sources
Very few dipeptides are sufficiently abundant in natural sources to make commercial extraction viable. Examples are the closely related dipeptides carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine) and anserine (beta-alanyl-N-methylhistidine), which are highly abundant in mammalian and avian muscle and brain tissues where they are assumed to play a number of protective roles. Carnosine is commercially extracted from natural sources and finds application in nutritional supplements. The analgesic kyotorphin (L-tyrosyl-L-arginine) has been extracted from bovine brain, but extraction is currently not carried out at a commercial scale.
