Microwave hydrolysis of peptides and proteins for amino acid analysis.

The speed, accuracy, and convenience of microwave hydrolysis make it a promising new technique in the protein chemistry field. Acid hydrolysis of protein samples has traditionally been the rate limiting step in amino acid analysis. Complete hydrolysis and analysis of proteins and synthetic peptides is now possible in less than an hour using microwave hydrolysis. This represents a significant improvement in quality control monitoring capability during the synthesis of high purity peptides. Microwave hydrolysis will also facilitate basic research in molecular biology and streamline sample preparation procedures for amino acid assays in the food science area.