For the complete and accurate amino acid determination of protein and food samples, 3 different hydrolysis procedures have been conducted in parallel for each sample, which include the alkaline hydrolysis for tryptophan determination, performic acid oxidation prior to the acid hydrolysis for the determination of cysteine and cystine, and the 6N HCl hydrolysis for the determination of the rest of amino acids. In the present study, amino acid concentrations obtained from the modified single hydrolysis procedure were compared with the values from the conventional hydrolysis procedures in casein and nine food and composite dish samples. In most of the samples tested, the modified single hydrolysis procedure gave significantly higher values of cysteins and cystein compared to the performic acid oxidation method, but resulted in a considerable destruction of tryptophan in food and composited dish samples. There was no consistent difference in the rest of amino acid concentrations between the two hydrolysis systems. Therefore, for complete amino acid determination of various foods and composite dishes, the single hydrolysis method may replace the 6N HCl hydrolysis and performic acid oxidation methods, and thereby reduces 3 hydrolyses to 2 steps with much higher recoveries of the sulfur containing amino acids.