Thin layer chromatography is an important tool for detecting amino acids by variety of spray reagents. ... However, ninhydrin produces the same purple/violet color with most amino acids. A spray reagent with high sensitivity for easy and rapid identification of amino acids on thin-layer plates has been introduced.
Ninhydrin is the most widely used chemical reagent for the detection of latent fingermarks on porous surfaces such as paper and cardboard.
TCL is based on the principle of separation through adsorption type. The separation relies on the relative empathy of compounds towards the mobile phase and stationary phase.