JEE Main 2025 · 29 January · evening · Single correct · +4 / −1

Identify the essential amino acids from below:
(A) Valine
(B) Proline
(C) Lysine
(D) Threonine
(E) Tyrosine
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

  1. (a) (A), (C) and (D) only
  2. (b) (C), (D) and (E) only
  3. (c) (A), (C) and (E) only
  4. (d) (B), (C) and (E) only
Answer and solution

Answer (a) (A), (C) and (D) only

Solution

Chemistry ma’am · 3 steps

Check each name against the ten essential amino acids; proline and tyrosine are the two to strike out.

  1. What essential means. An essential amino acid is one the human body cannot make, so it must come from food. A non-essential one is made inside the body.
  2. The essential list. NCERT lists ten: valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, threonine, methionine, lysine, arginine and histidine. The mnemonic PVT TIM HALL covers all ten.
    Amino acidEssential?Reason
    (A) ValineYeson the list of ten
    (B) ProlineNothe body makes it from glutamic acid
    (C) LysineYeson the list of ten
    (D) ThreonineYeson the list of ten
    (E) TyrosineNothe body makes it from phenylalanine
  3. So. The essential ones are valine, lysine and threonine, that is (A), (C) and (D) only, which is option (a).

The idea to keep. Learn the ten essential amino acids as PVT TIM HALL. Tyrosine is the classic trap: it is non-essential because the body makes it from phenylalanine.

Answer from the NTA final answer key. Solution by PrepWiser.

Study Carbohydrates & Biomolecules

Asked about 150 times in JEE Main since 2020. This question is from 2025.