The Journal of Automatic Chemistry 
Volume 13 (1991), Issue 3, Pages 93-95
doi:10.1155/S1463924691000172

The hydrolysis of proteins by microwave energy

Sam A. Margolis, Lois Jassie, and H. M. Kingston

 National Institute of Standards and Technology, Center for Analytical Chemistry, Organic Analytical Research Division, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA

Abstract

Microwave energy, at manually-adjusted, partial power settings has been used to hydrolyse bovine serum albumin at 125 °C. Hydrolysis was complete within 2 h, except for valine and isoleucine which were completely liberated within 4 h. The aminoacid destruction was less than that observed at similar hydrolysis conditions with other methods and complete hydrolysis was achieved more rapidly. These results provide a basis for automating the process of amino-acid hydrolysis.