Abstract:

The raw trimming waste from the leather industry is considered potential hazardous waste as a consequence of the chrome tanned leather process. On the other hand,  leather waste contains a large amount of precious protein – collagen, which has many uses. Nowadays, collagen preparations obtained from  leather waste are available on the market. This paper presents a procedure for the determination of amino acids in five collagen preparations of animal origin. Recent improvements in HPLC-based methods for analysing amino acids have made it feasible to analyse  different sample types accurately. In this study the 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate (AQC) derivatization procedure was applied. The amino acid analysis indicated the presence of 18 amino acids (Asp, Ser, Glu, His, Gly, Arg, Thr, Ala, Pro, Cys, Tyr, Val, Lys, Met, Ile, Leu, Phe and Hyp) in the collagen samples. Glycine, alanine, proline and hydroxyproline were the most abundant amino acid, whereas the lowest contents corresponded to serine, tyrosine, valine and izoleucine. The analysis proposed can be used with confidence in collagen quality control to guarantee  appropriate amino acid content.