Edman Degradation Definition:

A method for analyzing the sequence of amino acids in a peptide by removing one amino acid residue at a time and identifying each residue as it is removed.

Edman Degradation Explained:

It is a method that allows finding protein amino acid compositions. It was first discovered studied by Pehr Edman in the early 1950s It is one of the oldest methods much in use (see Protein Sequencing). It uses a three-stage reaction cycle for step-wise removal of amino acid residues from the N-terminus of a polypeptide chain. The three stages of the Edman cycle are (1) coupling, (2) cyclization, and (3) conversion.