Oxidation and hydrolysis determination of sulfur amino acids in food and feed ingredients: collaborative study

Samples of 6 food and feed ingredients and a purified protein, beta-lactoglobulin, were analyzed by 7 laboratories to determine the concentrations of cysteine as cysteic acid and methionine as methionine sulfone. Samples were oxidized by reaction with performic acid before hydrolysis with 6N HCl. The free amino acids were then separated and measured by ion-exchange chromatography on dedicated amino acid analyzers. Each laboratory was provided with a detailed method as well as sealed vials containing solutions of standards. For the determination of cysteine as cysteic acid, the coefficients of variation between laboratories for duplicate samples ranged from 7.13 to 10.8% for the 6 ingredients. For the determination of methionine as methionine sulfone, the coefficients of variation between laboratories for duplicate samples ranged from 1.18 to 12.8% for the 6 ingredients. Cysteine and methionine recoveries were determined by analysis of beta-lactoglobulin and were based on expected levels of each amino acid from amino acid sequence data. The mean recovery of cysteine was 95% with a range of 91-101%. The mean recovery of methionine was 101% with a range of 98-106%. This method has been adopted official first action.