Determination of tryptophan in feedstuffs: Comparison of two methods of hydrolysis prior to HPLC analysis

The tryptophan content of nine samples of commercial feed was determined using two procedures (I and II) differing mainly in the hydrolysis conditions used prior to analysis. With I, hydrolysis was performed with 4 M LiOH in the presence of maltodextrin with 5-methyltryptophan used as internal standard at 110°C for 24 h; with II. oxygen-free 1.3 M Ba(OH)₂ was used at 125°C for 16 h. The two procedures gave identical results for a given sample indicating that the corrections for the incomplete recovery of tryptophan 5-methyltryptophan quantitation were satisfactory.