Identification and quantification of amino acids found in human and animal food, as well as biologics, and even cosmetics, is important to accurately optimizing and reporting on products in these industries. Each of these products are made using proteins and peptides, the macromolecules comprised of long chains of amino acids. In order to accurately analyze their amino acid content, these amino acids must be freed from their peptide bonds. This is generally done via hydrolysis with acid or base. When done using traditional liquid phase methods, this can take hours to days to complete. Microwave methods can expedite this hydrolysis to amino acids, resulting in complete fragmentation in less than an hour, as well as providing several advantages over traditional methods.