Explain Functions of proteins
Functions of proteins are included herewith. These include:
- Source of energy: Constituent amino acids can be deaminated and metabolized to carbon dioxide and water.
- Toxic proteins (for humans - botulinum toxin, staphylococcal toxin, venom toxin; for microorganisms - antibiotics)
- Anti-nutritional factors (trypsin inhibitors).
- Many allergic reactions to food are also mediated by proteins, which result in the modification of defence mechanism of consumer due to the presence of proteinaceous antigens in foods that promote antibody synthesis.