Dipeptide

A dipeptide is a molecule consisting of two amino acids joined by a single peptide bond.

The German chemist Emil Fischer obtained the first dipeptide, glycylglycine, in 1901 by the partial hydrolysis of the diketopiperazine of glycine.

Dipeptides are produced from polypeptides by the action of the hydrolase enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase.

Dietary proteins are digested to dipeptides and amino acids, and the dipeptides are absorbed more rapidly than the amino acids, because their uptake involves a separate mechanism.

The sweetener Aspartame, Neotame and others are a dipeptide.