Chem. Also -ine. [irreg. f. Gr. τῡρός cheese + -IN1.] A white crystalline substance (C9H11NO3) produced by the decomposition of proteins. Also attrib.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem., III. 627. Tyrosine … was obtained by Liebig from the products of the fusion of well-dried cheese, fibrin, or albumen, with hydrate of potash. Ibid., 628. Tyrosine forms long fibrous crystals, which are very sparingly soluble in cold water.
1873. Ralfe, Phys. Chem., 72. Tyrosin…. Associated with leucin it has been obtained from all the glandular organs and secretions of the body. Ibid. On cooling, crystals of tyrosin will be deposited.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., IV. 100. Tyrosin crystals were found in the urine.
Hence Tyrosinase [after diastase], an oxidizing ferment that converts tyrosin into black pigments, as the inky secretion of the octopus.
1900. B. D. Jackson, Gloss. Bot. Terms, Tyrosinase, an oxidising enzyme which attacks the chromogen of certain Fungi. (Bertrand.)
