RAPID ANALYSIS OF FREE AMINO-ACIDS IN INFANT FOODS

A new aproach to the analysis of free amino acids from infant foods is described. The method is based on reaction of the free amino acids wi th phenylisothiocyanate to form stable derivatives which are subsequen tly separated by liquid chromatography. Sample preparation procedures are described. Separation of all amino acids using this method was com pleted in 20 min. This method was much faster than the traditional Ion -exchange methods (2-3 h). Variability of the method (expressed as coe fficients of variation) for the determination (including preparation o f samples, derivatization and liquid chromatography) of all amino acid was less than 10%.