Achiral and Chiral Amino Acid Analysis of Cow Rumen

Cows are important crop in the United States and the world due to their ability to provide dairy and beef to humans. Understanding the dietary needs and overall health of cattle is necessary to maintain this food supply. One way to probe the health of a cow is to study the contents of their rumen, the first and largest stomach in their digestive system. The amino acid profile of cow rumen has not been studied since the development of highly sensitive analytical techniques, like high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Achiral amino acid analysis of rumen samples from cows of a variety of diets is performed to understand which amino acids are present and at what levels relatively. Both proteinogenic and non-proteinogenic amino acids are considered. Additionally, chiral separations are performed for each amino acid present in the cow rumen sample to understand the enantiomeric excess of L- vs D-amino acids for the first time.