A simple and sensitive thin-layer chromatography (TLC) method coupled with an image analysis technique was developed for the simultaneous quantitative determination of L-proline and L-lysine in dietary supplement with good precision and accuracy. Separation was performed on silica gel plates using ethanol‒toluene (2:3, V/V) as the mobile phase. The visualization of chromatograms was based on iodine–azide reaction; therefore, pre-chromatographic derivatization reaction of amino acids with phenyl isothiocyanate was performed. Digital images of TLC plate chromatograms were converted into peak chromatograms, and quantitative analysis was conducted using TLSee software.
Read full abstract