Contained within every piece of watermelon and heavily concentrated in the watermelon rind, is an amino acid known as Citrulline. The name Citrulline is derived from the word Citrullus, which means watermelon in Latin. Citrulline was first identified by scientists in 1930, where it was found in the urea cycle, a pathway from which all mammals are able to excrete the complex organic chemical ammonia. Watermelon, and particularly the watermelon rind, are one of the most richly concentrated sources of Citrulline on the planet. The amino acid has many health benefits which mostly affect the circulatory system, digestive system, and nervous system. Ongoing contemporary research is finding that Citrulline can even be used to treat health problems such as arthritis, tissue swelling, immunity disorders, acid reflux, and many other inflictions.
With regard to biosynthesis, Citrulline is created and derived from Carbamoyl Phosphate and Ornithine as part of a chemical reaction that takes place in the urea cycle. Similar to Citrulline, Ornithine is another urea cycle based amino acid, whereas Carbamoyl Phosphate is an anion with a significant biochemical role. Another way Citrulline is created is as a chemical byproduct of Arginine while being catalyzed by nitric oxide synthase. Simply put, as Arginine goes through a complex oxidization process, it is transformed into Citrulline during the release of nitric oxide. Most of these chemical processes can be extremely complex and difficult to explain and understand, even for microbiologists, so in light of that understand that these processes are normal, and the release of Citrulline into the body is a healthy thing, even for pregnant women as our other article illustrates.
With regard to Citrulline's function, it has been recently found to significantly relax the blood vessels, and through this process it can be used to treat various inflammation based disorders. Outside of being used to treat health problems, it has also been recently discovered that individuals suffering from rheumatoid arthritis have high levels of antibodies within their bodies that will act to stop the spread of any proteins containing Citrulline. It is still not known why this happens, however doctors can use the process to diagnosis the disease early on by simply detecting the large amount of this specific type of antibodies in the blood stream. Much of the research done on Citrulline in relation to it's affect on the body is conducted within the United States, particularly at Texas A&M University.
A variety of health and sports performance products have been hitting the market lately, all of which are playing off of the recent discoveries scientists have been making on Citrulline. In one such example, it is sold as Citrulline malate which is a performance enhancing supplement which has been shown to drastically reduce muscle fatigue in athletes during a clinical test trial. Other products containing Citrulline are being sold as organic alternatives to the commonly known drug Viagra, with preliminary results showing some positive results, though it obviously isn't as powerful as it's synthetic counterpart. There are many other products containing the amino acid, some for treating swelling, acid reflux disorder, and others for general improved blood circulation. However despite all of the promising advancements in the area of supplements, the best way to consume Citrulline is by eating watermelon and watermelon rind. We thank you for reading through this article.