Instrument considerations for reliable amino acid analysis

Amino acid analysis (AAA) is performed regularly for a wide range of samples including hydrolyzed proteins, cell culture, as well as and food and feeds samples. However, traditional HPLC methods for these analyses can have long run times and lower sensitivity. To address these challenges, Waters created an ACQUITY™ UPLC™ AAA Solution which includes a pre-column derivatization kit, sub-2 µm columns and pre-packaged mobile phases suitable for UPLC analyses. By scaling and adapting these reliable and reproducible methods from sub-2 µm particles to HPLC particle sizes (i.e., 2.5 µm), the AccQ•Tag™ Ultra solution chemistry can be used at lower pressures with conditions compatible for a wider range of systems.

In this application note, Waters Corporation details a study that presents the considerations for adapting this pre-column derivatization method from UPLC to UHPLC/HPLC systems. After adaptation and optimization of the separation method, performance is demonstrated, including linearity, repeatability, reproducibility, limit of quantitation, and limit of detection.