Step 1: Amino acid side chains vary widely in structure. Glutamine carries an amide side chain, tryptophan carries a bulky indole ring, and tyrosine carries a phenolic ring with a hydroxyl group.
Step 2: Alanine has the simplest hydrocarbon side chain among common options here, a single methyl group (-CH3) attached to the alpha carbon.
Step 3: Since none of glutamine, tryptophan or tyrosine's side chains is a plain methyl group, the amino acid that actually contains a methyl group as its side chain is alanine.
Step 4: So the correct answer is Alanine.