01Product

L-Methionine

At a glance

L-Methionine from Zhicheng Bio — supply summary

Zhicheng Bio supplies bulk L-Methionine, CAS 63-68-3, shipping from Shanghai, China. This grade is produced to order. Every shipment carries a batch Certificate of Analysis; specification sheet and MSDS are supplied on request. Sourced to order — about 1 week to Shanghai port. Zhicheng Bio publishes no list price — quotes are issued per quantity and Incoterm by email to zhicheng1@zhicheng-bio.cn.

Supplier: Zhicheng Bio, Shanghai, China
CAS number: 63-68-3
Molecular formula: C5H11NO2S
Availability: Made to order
Documents: Batch CoA with every shipment; spec sheet and MSDS on request
Packing: 25 kg cartons or bags, adjustable
PubChem CID: 6137
How to get a price: Email RFQ to zhicheng1@zhicheng-bio.cn — no list price is published

Amino Acids ~1 week

L-Methionine

CAS 63-68-3 · C5H11NO2S

Bulk L-Methionine for B2B manufacturing — supplied against your target specification, with documentation your QA can review before anything ships. Pricing below is indicative; send an RFQ for a firm quote, MOQ and lead time.

$6.94 – $7.78 /kg by order volume · indicative, ex-Shanghai

Indicative range — larger volumes price toward the low end. Ingredient markets move weekly; your firm price is confirmed by quotation, typically within one business day.

Category: Amino Acids

Availability: Sourced to order — about 1 week to Shanghai port

Packing: 25 kg bags, cartons or drums (standard)

Key supply points

Supplied against your target specification — USP / FCC / JP monograph where applicable
Recent batch COA provided with the quotation, before you commit
Consolidates with other SKUs into one shipment out of Shanghai
Third-party lab verification available pre-shipment on request

Documentation with every batch

COA per batchSpec SheetMSDS / SDSExport docs

Third-party lab verification can be arranged pre-shipment on request. Certificates of origin, non-GMO or allergen statements per destination-market requirements.

Request COA & Quote Use the RFQ form

Shipping & Lead Time

Estimate freight for this product

~1 weekSourced to order — about 1 week to Shanghai port

Destination region Quantity (kg)

Air FreightFast

Transit: —
Est. freight *: —
Total door-to-port: —

Sea LCLValue

Transit: —
Est. freight *: —
Total door-to-port: —

Request Exact Quote

Documentation-first

COA per batch, Spec Sheet and MSDS — reviewed by your QA before anything ships.

Ready-stock depth

Multi-tonne inventory on core SKUs, plus 28 actives held in our US warehouse in Los Angeles for domestic delivery.

Certified supply chain

Sourced from audited, certified manufacturers — ISO, HACCP, Halal & Kosher available.

Flexible export

25 kg bags, cartons or drums; FOB / CIF / DDP by lane, sea or air consolidation.

02Identity & properties

Identity & properties

Compound identifiers and physical properties for this material. The binding version is always the Specification Sheet and batch COA issued with your quotation.

CAS No.	63-68-3
Molecular Formula	C5H11NO2S
Molecular Weight	149.21
EINECS	200-562-9
Synonyms	L-Methionine, L-Met, M, (2S)-2-amino-4-methylsulfanylbutanoic acid
Appearance	Colourless or white lustrous plates or white crystalline powder, with a faint characteristic odour
Solubility	Water 56.6 g/L at 25 °C (Merck also reports a series of 18.18 g/L at 0 °C and 33.81 g/L at 25 °C — the two sources disagree and both are cited in PubChem). Soluble in warm dilute alcohol and in dilute acids and alkalies; insoluble in absolute alcohol, ether, petroleum ether, benzene and acetone; slightly soluble in acetic acid.
Pharmacopoeial reference	FCC · JP

03Specifications

Specifications

Typical parameters below — the binding version is the Specification Sheet and batch COA we send with your quotation.

Parameter	Specification	Test method
pH (1% aqueous solution)	5.6-6.1	Potentiometric
DL-methionine / enantiomeric purity	—	Chiral chromatography or optical rotation
Assay (as-is / dried basis)	—	Titration or HPLC per the applicable monograph
Appearance	—	Visual
Identification	—	IR / specific optical rotation per monograph
Specific optical rotation	—	Polarimetry
Loss on drying	—	Gravimetric
Residue on ignition / sulphated ash	—	Gravimetric
Chloride	—	Per monograph
Sulphate	—	Per monograph
Iron	—	Per monograph
Other amino acids / related substances	—	TLC or HPLC per monograph
Heavy metals (Pb / As / Cd / Hg)	—	ICP-MS or per monograph
Microbiology (TAMC / TYMC / E. coli / Salmonella)	—	USP <61>/<62> or equivalent

A dash means we have no fixed limit to publish for that parameter: it is reported on the batch COA and the limit is agreed with your QA. We would rather leave it blank than invent a number. Full physical, chemical, heavy-metal and microbiological parameters are listed in the Specification Sheet — sent with every quotation.

04Formulation & handling notes

Formulation & handling notes

The practical points our technical team raises with buyers of this material — the things that decide whether a batch behaves in your process.

The wetting behaviour is the thing nobody warns you about. The Merck Index records that methionine is soluble in water 'but the crystals are somewhat water-repellant at first'. Practically, a methionine addition floats and clumps on the surface before it goes in — order of addition, pre-wetting or a wetting agent solves it, brute-force stirring does not.

It is the only sulphur-containing product in this range, and the sulphur shows up in three places: taste (Ullmann's lists the taste as sulphurous), odour (a faint characteristic note) and decomposition products (SOx as well as NOx on heating). In an unflavoured powder methionine is usually the ingredient customers notice on opening the tub.

A 1% solution sits at pH 5.6-6.1, so it is near-neutral and will not fight a beverage buffer — the formulation constraint is sensory, not pH.

The commercially important distinction is L versus DL. DL-methionine is a separate, cheaper product with its own FCC monograph, and FDA's regulation explicitly excludes DL-methionine from infant foods while placing no such restriction on the L form. If you are paying for L, specify the enantiomeric limit — the assay alone will not catch a racemate substitution.

It is soluble in warm dilute alcohol but insoluble in absolute alcohol, so a hydro-alcoholic system may or may not carry it depending on water content — test at your actual ethanol percentage rather than assuming.

Reported density is 1.178 and it decomposes at about 280-282 °C in a sealed capillary, so it is thermally robust for bar and extrusion work; the limit on hot processing is the sulphur odour, not the chemistry.

05Applications

Applications

B2B manufacturing use only — no finished-product or health claims.

Amino acid fortification of plant-protein foods and beverages

Free-form amino acid and EAA blends

Liver-support and detoxification supplement formulations

Clinical and enteral nutrition

Pet-food and animal-nutrition premixes

Capsules and tablets

06Regulatory status by market

Regulatory status by market

Status of the raw material, stated as conservatively as our sources allow. This is supply-chain information, not regulatory advice — confirm the position for your finished product and destination market with your own regulatory counsel.

Market	Status	Basis
United States	Listed by name in FDA's amino-acid food-additive regulation as 'L-Methionine', with a cap of 3.1 percent by weight of the total protein of the finished food for L- and DL-methionine combined. Note that the same regulation lists 'DL-Methionine (not for infant foods)' — a restriction that applies to the racemate and not to the L form.	21 CFR 172.320(a)(14), (a)(15), (c)(4)
European Union	Amino acids are not covered by the harmonised positive lists of Directive 2002/46/EC (Annexes I and II of that Directive cover vitamins and minerals only). Amino acid ingredients are therefore governed by general EU food law plus national rules, with mutual recognition under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 764/2008 in practice.	Directive 2002/46/EC (food supplements); national member-state rules
Japan	An Official Monograph titled 'L-Methionine' is listed in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, Eighteenth Edition. Monograph existence only — no limits transcribed.	JP XVIII, Official Monographs
China	Status as a nutrient fortification substance / food additive under Chinese national standards to be confirmed.	GB 14880-2012 (nutrient fortification substances), GB 2760 (food additives), and NHC new-food-ingredient announcements

07Selected research

Selected research

Peer-reviewed literature on this compound, with linked identifiers so you can read the primary source rather than take our word for it.

These references are listed for scientific context only. They describe published research on the compound; they are not claims about this raw material and not claims about any finished product. Zhicheng Bio makes no medical, health or performance claims.

A review of the side effects of amino acid supplements examined the consequences of increased intake of individual amino acids, including effects on renal and gastrointestinal function, ammonia production and competition for shared membrane carriers. Holeček M. Physiol Res. 2022;71(1):29-45. PMID 35043647 DOI 10.33549/physiolres.934790 Source
A study reported that dietary methionine restriction influenced therapy response in mouse cancer models and altered one-carbon and methionine metabolism in humans, establishing methionine intake as a variable that measurably changes human metabolic flux. Gao X, Sanderson SM, Dai Z, et al. Nature. 2019;572(7769):397-401. PMID 31367041 DOI 10.1038/s41586-019-1437-3 Source

08Packing, storage & lead time

Packing, storage & lead time

Standard packing	25 kg bags, cartons or drums
Private packing	Custom packing & labeling available for regular customers
Storage	Cool, dry place, sealed in original packaging
Lead time	Sourced to order — about 1 week to Shanghai port
Shipping	Sea or air consolidation out of Shanghai · FOB / CIF / DDP by lane

09Procurement FAQ

Procurement FAQ

01Why won't methionine wet out in my mixing tank?

Because the crystals are genuinely water-repellent at first — the Merck Index says so explicitly. It will dissolve, but it floats and rafts before it does. Pre-wet it, add it early into a vortex, or dry-blend it with a soluble carrier. Longer stirring at the end of the batch is the least effective fix.

02Will it smell?

Slightly, yes. It is the only sulphur-containing item in our range and the odour is described as faint but characteristic, with a sulphurous taste. In an unflavoured product this is a formulation decision, not a quality defect. Ask us for a sample and smell it before you commit.

03Are you quoting L-methionine or DL-methionine?

L-methionine, and it is worth being explicit because DL is a separate cheaper product and FDA's amino-acid regulation bars DL-methionine from infant foods. Ask us to put the enantiomeric purity limit and method on the specification sheet — the total assay will not distinguish them.

04Can I use it in a hydro-alcoholic liquid?

Only with water present. Methionine dissolves in warm dilute alcohol but is insoluble in absolute alcohol, so behaviour depends entirely on your ethanol percentage. Bench-test at your actual formulation, not from a solubility table.

05What is the MOQ for L-Methionine?

MOQ is quote-based and flexible. Tell us your target quantity in the RFQ — for core in-stock SKUs we can usually accommodate both trial orders and multi-tonne volumes.

06Can I get a sample of L-Methionine before ordering?

Yes — samples are available on request for evaluation and lab verification. Mention it in your RFQ and we will confirm the arrangement.

10Related