COMPARISON OF THE RECOVERY OF AMINO-ACIDS IN VAPOR-PHASE HYDROLYSATES OF PROTEINS PERFORMED IN A PICO-TAG WORK STATION AND IN A MICROWAVE HYDROLYSIS SYSTEM

An exhaustive study was made to determine the amino acid composition of lysozyme in hydroysates performed in a CEM microwave oven under various conditions [0.621-0.827 MPa (90-120 p.s.i.g.) for 5, 10, 20 and 40 min], determined by HPLC as their phenylthiocarbamyl derivatives. The results showed that the CEM microwave hydrolysis system works reproducibly up to 0.689 MPa (100 p.s.i.g.) pressure only. Uniformly optimum parameters for all components present in hydrolysates were not found. The recoveries of the components at 0.621 MPa (90 p.s.i.g.) (after 20 and 40 min) and at 0.689 MPa (100 p.s.i.g.) (after 10 20 and 40 min) varied from 63 to 111%. The reproducibility of the measurements was <8.0% (relative standard deviation).