AGE ESTIMATION USING A MODIFIED HPLC DETERMINATION OF RATIO OF ASPARTIC-ACID IN DENTIN

Diastereomeric dipeptides were derived from the amino acid enantiomers in dentin by O-phthalaldehyde-N-acetyl-L-cysteine. The products were separated using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and detected by fluorescence detector. A short analysis time (total analysis time was 15 min, including retention time, sample derivatization time and column regeneration time) was used, The sensitivity of detection was 1 pmol and high resolution (Rs = 1.5) was reached, We determined the D/L ratio of aspartic acid in dentin of 28 first premolars, The correlation value between the D/L ratio of aspartic acid and actual age was 0.9887; errors of +/-1 year accounted for 46.4%, and no error exceeded 5 years.