Sodium sulfite as an antioxidant in the acid hydrolysis of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A.

Treatment of hydrochloric acid with sodium sulfite prior to the acid hydrolysis of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A has been found to suppress the oxidation of cystine, methionine, and tyrosine without adversely affecting the recoveries of other amino acids. Statistical analysis of the results indicated that the assumption of the independence of the mean and the variance, an assumption commonly used in the evaluation of the effects of various treatments, may not be valid in evaluating antioxidants used in the acid hydrolysis of proteins.