What Amino Acids Are In Royal Jelly?

Royal jelly, despite its origins as a secretion by worker bees, has become a supplement used for many purposes, including supplying B-complex vitamins. Royal jelly is comprised of complete proteins, which means it contains all 22 amino acids, 8 essential, some of which are non-essential, and others that are conditionally essential. Royal jelly also contains a few fatty acids, minerals, enzymes and vitamin C. Consult a health care professional before using any supplement.

Essential Amino Acids

Essential amino acids are those that your body does not or cannot synthesize in sufficient quantity for daily activities: arginine, histidine, lysine, threonine, tryptophan, leucine, isoleucine and valine. Leucine, isoleucine and valine are called the branched chain amino acids, based on their structure. These amino acids are the most prevalent amino acids in your muscles and are sometimes used in supplement form to promote recovery from exercise. In a 2006 study published in the "The Journal of Nutrition," branched chain amino acid supplementation not only improved recovery, it also reduced soreness following intense exercise.

Non-Essential Amino Acids

Non-essential amino acids are those that your body can synthesize from other sources, usually proteins or amino acids. The amino acid methionine can be converted to cysteine, so cysteine is not an essential amino acid. Tyrosine can be converted from phenylalanine, so tyrosine is non-essential. Other non-essential amino acids include alanine, aspartate, glutamate, glutamic acid, glycine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine and taurine.

Conditionally Essential Amino Acids

An amino acid may be essential only under certain conditions. If you are not getting enough of one sort of amino acid, such as cysteine, which can be converted from methionine, then methionine can be considered essential. The same is true if you have a certain condition that inhibits the conversion of enzymes or aminos, or the condition requires you to limit your dietary intake resulting in a specific deficiency of an amino acid. If you have phenylketonuria, you must keep your phenylalanine intake low. As tyrosine is normally synthesized from phenylalanine, you cannot synthesize tyrosine, and it should be considered essential in this condition.

Other Ingredients in Royal Jelly

Royal jelly is very high in B-complex vitamins and is commonly used as a supplement for this purpose. Royal jelly also contains small amounts of trace carbohydrates and fats, but usually only 11 percent of its volume is in the form of carbohydrates and 5 percent from fatty acids. The carbohydrates are simple sugars, and the fatty acids are non-essential. So royal jelly, even in large quantities, is not an adequate meal replacement product. The trace minerals in royal jelly are limited, and none of the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E or K, are present.