Structure and spectroscopy of methionyl-methionine for aquaculture

The amino acid l-methionine is an essential amino acid and is commonly used as a feed supplement in terrestrial animals. It is less suitable for marine organisms because it is readily excreted. It is also highly water soluble and this results in loss of the feed and eutrophication of the water. To address these problems, the dipeptide dl-methionyl-dl-methionine (trade name: AQUAVI Met-Met) has been developed as a dedicated methionine source for aquaculture. The commercial product is a mixture of a racemic crystal form of d-methionyl-d-methionine/l-methionyl-l-methionine and a racemic crystal form of d-methionyl-l-methionine/l-methionyl-d-methionine. In this work, we have computationally, structurally, spectroscopically and by electron microscopy characterised these materials. The microscopy and spectroscopy demonstrate that there is no interaction between the dd–ll and dl–ld racemates on any length scale from the macroscopic to the nanoscale.