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Colorimetric Method for Determination of Amino Acids on Thin Layer and Filter Paper Chromatography Using a Modified Ninhydrin Reagent



Author(s)

Huda Shaaban Elgubbi¹ and Adel Mohammad Mlitan²

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DOI:10.17265/2161-6256/2015.03.005

1. Department of Plant, Faculty of Science, University of Misurata, Misurata 4419, Libya
2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Misurata, Misurata 4419, Libya

A simple and rapid colorimetric method for the determination of some amino acids on thin layer chromatography (TLC) and Whatman filter paper chromatography is described. The studied compounds are cysteine, proline, methionine, tryptophan glutmine, glycine, thyrosine, threonine, leucine and lysine. The method is based on the formation of color from the reaction of stannous chloride (SnCl₂) and ninhydrin reagents. The procedure has been successfully applied to the assay of the standard amino acid preparation after TLC separation, and the results of the studied compounds were clear and favorable, comparing to the official methods. However, the improved TLC is much more efficient for the detection of amino acid. The main advantage of this method is that the detection of amino acids can be preformed visually.

Individual amino acid, modified ninhydrin reagent, SnCl₂ reagent, colorimetric determination and filter paper (Whatman 14).