Colorimetric determination of hydroxyproline as measure of collagen content in meat and meat products: NMKL collaborative study.

A colorimetric method for the determination of hydroxyproline as a measure of collagen in meat and meat products has been collaboratively studied in 18 laboratories. The method includes hydrolysis with sulfuric acid, oxidation with chloramine-T, and formation of a reddish purple complex with 4-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde. Five frozen and 3 freeze-dried samples were tested, ranging in content from 0.11 to 0.88% and from 0.39 to 4.0% hydroxyproline, respectively. The mean values of 2 identical samples were 0.245 and 0.251%. The average recovery from a spiked sample was 96.1%. The hydroxyproline content of a known sample (a mixture of 2 samples in the ratio 5:2) was calculated to 1.42%, which agrees well with the analytical result, 1.40%. In comparison with other collaborative studies, based on the ISO analytical method, the repeatability and reproducibility of this method agree well with the other results. This method was accepted as an official NMKL method by all national Committees, and has been adopted official first action by AOAC as an NMKL-AOAC method.