A goal of marine biogeochemistry is to characterize the chemical composition of particulate organic matter (POM) in the oceanic water column in order to evaluate sources, reactivity and the potential for preservation of POM in the sedimentary environment, given its importance in biogeochemical cycles in the ocean. Organic matter transformation has traditionally been measured as changes in the concentration of organic matter (determined as organic carbon) at different depths (e.g., Gundersen et al., 1998; Wakeham, 1995). Nevertheless, studies of the transformation of specific compounds provide more precise information regarding degradation mechanisms (Abramson et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2004; Pantoja & Lee, 2003). Some of the specific compounds that have been investigated are amino acids (e.g., Abramson et al., 2010; Pantoja & Lee, 2003