Citrulline, its chemical overview, sources, mechanism of action, health benefits and risk factors

Description :   Citrulline is an important amino acid naturally found in various foods. Whereas body can also

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Citrulline is an important amino acid naturally found in various foods. Whereas body can also produce citrulline thus it is considered as a non essential amino acid. It offers numerous health benefits and has been traditionally used for various medicinal purposes like hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, hyperglycemia, heart diseases and erectile dysfunction. It is widely used for improving athletic performance as well.

Chemistry

• It is an organic compound
• It is an alpha amino acid
• The name citrulline is derived from a Latin word “Citrullus” that is for watermelon because it was first isolated from watermelon and it is abundantly present in watermelon
• Body also produces citrulline from ornithine. Ornithine is another amino acid, which reacts with carbamoyl phosphate and produces citrulline within liver
• It has the chemical formula of C₆H₁₃N₃O₃
• It is solid in nature and has crystalline appearance
• It is white in colour

Sources

It is naturally found in various foods, whereas it is also commercially available in supplemented form. It can be synthesized by body too thus if anyone does not consume enough citrulline through diet so he or she will not develop the deficiency of citrulline in body as body produces citrulline by its own

Food sources

Below listed foods contains adequate amount of citrulline –

• Watermelon
• Cucumber
• Nuts
• Bitter gourd
• Pumpkin
• Squash
• Onion
• Garlic
• Legumes
• Liver
• Fish

Supplements

• It is available in two forms of dietary supplements, which include L-citrulline and Citrulline malate
• L-citrulline is a very common type of citrulline supplement found in market and it contains only citrulline, whereas Citrulline malate is such type of supplement that contains another compound along with citrulline. Generally Citrulline malate contains L-citrulline and malate
• Citrulline malate is extremely important for energy production

Mechanism of action

• As mentioned above we can consume citrulline through diet or supplements, whereas citrulline can be synthesized by body as well. This citrulline performs various imperative biological functions in our body, among which the most important role played by citrulline is vasodilation
• Citrulline is converted into arginine (an amino acid) within body, which is further changed into nitric oxide
• Nitric oxide acts as vasodilator that helps to open up blood vessels like arteries and veins, which ultimately improves blood flow and subsequently reduces hypertension
• Citrulline is also associated with supplying various important ingredients to the body for synthesizing new proteins
• Citrulline helps to decrease the uptake of certain amino acids by liver and also inhibits their breakdown

Health benefits

Role on muscle

• Consumption of citrulline is very effective for promoting overall muscular health as it is associated with stimulating a signaling pathway involved in muscle building
• It plays vital role in promoting protein synthesis, which ultimately helps in the growth and development of muscles as protein acts as the building blocks of muscle
• It helps to improve muscle mass
• It helps in improving muscular strength too
• It has also seen that consumption of citrulline plays significant role in healing muscular damages
• It helps to improve muscular activity as well

Role on improving athletic performance

• Its consumption is thought to be extremely helpful for improving athletic performance as it is closely related with improving blood supply to muscles that ultimately helps in increasing oxygen content in the muscles, which is responsible for increasing overall exercise performance
• It is very effective for enhancing athletic performance especially with anaerobic exercises with short rest times
• It also helps in preventing post exercise muscle soreness
• It is associated with increasing blood flow during submaximal exercise
• Moreover it helps in improving muscular performance as a result improves endurance

Role on circulation

• It plays vital role in improving blood circulation
• As it is associated with increasing the level of nitric oxide in body thus its consumption is thought to be very effective for improving blood flow as nitric oxide acts as an important vasodilator
• It enhances the supply of nutrients, oxygen and other important biological substances in body as result helps to support the body to function properly, which ultimately promotes overall wellbeing

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