New Horizons for Ninhydrin: Colorimetric Determination of Gender from Fingerprints

In the past century, forensic investigators have universally accepted fingerprinting as a reliable identification method via pictorial comparison. One of the most traditional detection methods uses ninhydrin, a chemical that reacts with amino acids in the fingerprint content to produce the blue-purple color known as Ruhemann’s purple. It has recently been demonstrated that the amino acid content in fingerprints can be used to differentiate between male and female fingerprints. Here, we present a modified approach to the traditional ninhydrin method. This new approach for using ninhydrin is combined with an optimized extraction protocol and the concept of determining gender from fingerprints. In doing so, we are able to focus on the biochemical material rather than exclusively the physical image.