Determination of Amino Acids in Food and Feed by Derivatization with 6-Aminoquinolyl-N-Hydroxysuccinimidyl Carbamate and Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatographic Separation

Abstract A study of a new amino acid analysis method using 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate as a precolumn derivatization reagent for the analysis of food and feed is described. All amino acids, including methionine sulfone and cysteic acid, were well separated on a liquid chromatographic system using the optimized chromatographic conditions. Salts in food and feed interfered very slightly with the derivatization yields of all amino acids. Several typical agricultural products and animal feeds, including 2 AOAC test samples, were analyzed with the method. The results agreed well with the data generated by using the classical postcolumn method with ion-exchange chromatography. The average relative standard deviations for corn and broiler starter feed were 0.74 and 0.70%, respectively. Good recoveries of all amino acids were demonstrated (average, 101%), even for a sample with a very complex matrix.