Amino Acid Analysis

Hydrolysis is typically achieved under acid conditions. A standard procedure is hydrolysis with 6 M hydrochloric acid (24 hours, 110°C). Fragile amino acids, especially tryptophan and cysteine, will be partially destroyed. And then hydrolyzed samples (amino acids) are derivatized pre-column or post column for sensitive detection, separated by RP/SCX column. The use of internal and external standards of known amount is crucial for accurate quantification of each amino acid.