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RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine

PurMa™ Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640-MAX (RPMI-1640-MAX)

(43 customer reviews)

PurMa™ RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine.PurMa™ Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640-MAX (RPMI-1640-MAX) is a next‑generation mammalian cell culture medium. Unlike standard RPMI‑1640, this RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains 4 mM L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine instead of L‑glutamine. This stabilized dipeptide provides higher pH buffering capacity, significantly longer shelf life, and reduced toxic ammonia build‑up. The result is more consistent cultures, improved viability and growth, and better support for sensitive primary cells.

SKU: N/A Categories: Cell Culture Media, Roswell-Park Memorial Institute 1640 Tags: Cell Culture, glucose, L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine, Mammalian Cells, MAX, Phenol Red, RPMI, RPMI 1640, Without Phenol Red

Description

PurMa™ RPMI-1640-MAX Cell Culture Medium

Product Description

PurMa™ RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine. PurMa™ Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640-MAX (RPMI-1640-MAX) is a specialized mammalian cell culture medium. This RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium is engineered for demanding research and bioprocess workflows that need stable glutamine and strong pH control. The key innovation in RPMI-1640-MAX is the use of L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine instead of free L‑glutamine. This single change dramatically improves medium stability, shelf life, and performance in culture.

What makes RPMI-1640-MAX different?

The major difference between RPMI-1640-MAX and regular RPMI‑1640 is the glutamine source. Standard RPMI‑1640 contains free L‑glutamine, which is chemically unstable in aqueous solution. Over time, L‑glutamine degrades and generates toxic ammonia and pyrrolidone carboxylic acid. PurMa™ RPMI-1640-MAX replaces L‑glutamine with 4 mM L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine (0.869 g/L). This dipeptide is far more stable and degrades much more slowly in liquid media. As a result, the medium maintains its composition, pH, and performance for a longer period.

Advantages of RPMI-1640-MAX over standard RPMI‑1640

Because RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine  offers several critical performance advantages:

  • Higher pH buffering capacity
    Optimized sodium bicarbonate and, where applicable, HEPES levels provide superior pH stability during culture.
  • Longer shelf life
    RPMI1640 with l alanyl lglutamine is highly stable in aqueous solution, extending the functional shelf life of the medium.
  • Reduced toxic ammonia build‑up
    Minimal glutamine degradation means less ammonia accumulation, helping protect sensitive cell lines.
  • Improved cell viability and growth
    More stable glutamine delivery supports robust proliferation and higher overall culture performance.
  • Temperature stability
    The formulation remains stable across a wide range of temperatures during storage and handling.
  • Better performance with primary cells
    Primary and hard‑to‑grow cells often respond better to the lower ammonia and stable nutrient environment.

These advantages make RPMI-1640-MAX ideally suited for long‑term cultures, high‑density cultures, and experiments that require reproducible conditions.

Mechanism: Why L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine?

L‑glutamine is an essential amino acid for mammalian cell growth and protein synthesis.
However, in aqueous media it degrades over time, producing ammonia and pyrrolidone carboxylic acid.
This degradation changes the medium composition, raises toxicity, and can compromise experimental results.

One strategy is to repeatedly add fresh L‑glutamine to the culture.
In practice, this is labor‑intensive and difficult to control precisely over time.

Advantages of a cell culture medium contains lalanyllglutamine .
This dipeptide is much more stable in solution and does not rapidly generate ammonia.
Instead, cellular aminopeptidases gradually cleave L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine into L‑glutamine and L‑alanine.
The released amino acids are then used by the cells for protein synthesis and energy production in the TCA cycle.

By providing a controlled, sustained release of glutamine, RPMI-1640-MAX helps maintain consistent culture conditions from start to finish.

Composition of RPMI-1640-MAX

PurMa™ RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium is based on a modified RPMI‑1640 formulation and contains:

  • 4 mM L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine (0.869 g/L) instead of L‑glutamine
  • 5 mM sodium pyruvate
  • High glucose (4.5 g/L)
  • Non‑essential amino acids (NEAA)
  • 3.7 g/L sodium bicarbonate
  • Phenol red as a pH indicator

PurMa Biologics manufactures several RPMI-1640-MAX variants with different sodium bicarbonate and HEPES concentrations. For instance RPMI1640-MAX alanyl lglutamine hepes without phenol is available in PurMa Biologics. the combination of l alanyl lglutamine hepes offers an extra buffering capacity which prevents contamination against mold as well as mycoplasma. PurMa Biologics manufactures  RPMI with  lglutamine hepes without phenol red as well: Here is the Link 
These options allow you to select the pH buffering capacity that best matches your incubator conditions and experimental needs.

Note: RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine but does not contain  no proteins, lipids, or growth factors.
For complete medium, supplementation with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) or an appropriate serum replacement is required.

Formulation

For complete formulation click here: RPMI-1640 MAX Formulation

Applications

This RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium is designed for:

  • Routine culture of mammalian cell lines historically grown in RPMI‑1640
  • Long‑term and high‑density cultures requiring stable glutamine levels
  • Primary cells and sensitive cell types that are susceptible to ammonia toxicity
  • Experiments needing highly reproducible metabolic and pH conditions
  • Assays where changes in ammonia or pH could confound functional readouts

By minimizing medium variability, RPMI-1640-MAX supports high‑quality, publication‑ready data and smoother scale‑up.

Related stabilized glutamine product

In addition to our MAX formulation media, PurMa Biologics manufactures PurMa™ GluaSup (Cat# P3S210 559).
PurMa™ GluaSup is a concentrated L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine supplement designed to prevent L‑glutamine degradation in other basal media.
It is ideal when you want to upgrade existing media formulations with the same stabilized glutamine technology used in RPMI-1640-MAX.

FAQs

Q1. What is the main difference between RPMI-1640-MAX and standard RPMI‑1640?
The main difference is the glutamine source.
RPMI-1640-MAX replaces unstable L‑glutamine with 4 mM L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine.
This change improves pH stability, shelf life, and reduces toxic ammonia build‑up, which enhances cell viability and growth.

Q2. Why does L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine extend the shelf life of the medium?
L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine is much more stable in aqueous solution than free L‑glutamine.
It degrades slowly and does not rapidly generate ammonia or breakdown products.
RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine offers an stability to cell culture medium closer to its original composition for a longer time.

Q3. Does RPMI-1640-MAX reduce the risk of contamination?
RPMI-1640-MAX does not directly sterilize cultures, but its higher buffering capacity and stability help maintain physiological pH.
Stable pH and consistent medium composition reduce stress on cells and minimize conditions that can favor opportunistic contaminants.
Standard aseptic technique and proper filtration are still required.

Q4. Do I need to add FBS or other supplements to RPMI-1640-MAX?
Yes. RPMI-1640-MAX does not contain proteins, lipids, or growth factors.
For most applications, we recommend supplementing with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) or an appropriate serum alternative.
Additional supplements can be added according to your cell line’s specific requirements. But RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine the FBS performs better due to the condition mentioned above by using this version of glutamine.

Q5. Is RPMI-1640-MAX suitable for primary cells?
Yes. RPMI-1640-MAX is particularly well suited for primary and sensitive cells.
The stabilized L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine minimizes ammonia accumulation and maintains more consistent pH.
These features create a gentler environment that can support better attachment, viability, and long‑term growth of primary cells.

Q6. How should I store and handle RPMI-1640-MAX?
Store RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine as recommended on the product label, typically at 2–8 °C and protected from light.
Avoid repeated freeze–thaw cycles and prolonged exposure to room temperature.Because RPMI-1640-MAX cell culture medium contains L‑alanyl‑L‑glutamine it will keep the potency much longer..
Use aseptic technique when opening and aliquoting to maintain sterility and maximize shelf life.

References

  1. Culture of normal human leukocytes. Moore GE, et al. 1967 Feb 20;199(8):519-24. PMID: 4960081
  2. Leukocytes as carriers in the transmission of bovine leukemia: certain morphologic and functional characteristics of cultured leukocytes from normal and leukemic cattle. Dunne HW, et al. Am J Vet Res. 1970 Apr;31(4):597-617. PMID: 5437104.
  3. Long-term culture of human leukaemic leukocytes. Pössnerová V, et al. 1970;17(5):513-23. PMID: 5274436
Parameter Specification
Appearance clear liquid, Red liquid
pH 7.4 ± 0.1
Osmolality 275-360 mOsm/L
Endotoxin NMT< 2EU/mL
Mycoplasma Negative
Suitability Suitable for mammalian cell culture
Additive NA
Indicator NA
Sterility Tested Sterile filtered using 0.22 µm filter
Form Liquid
Shipping Condition Dry Ice

 

Additional information

Condition

RPMI 1640 MAX, Standard Formulation, RPMI 1640 MAX, Standard Formulation (ATCC formulation), RPMI 1640 MAX, w/o Phenol Red, RPMI 1640 MAX, w/o Sodium Bicarbonate, RPMI 1640 MAX, w/o Glucose, RPMI 1640 MAX, w/o Phenol Red, w/o Sodium Bicarbonate, RPMI 1640 MAX, With Low Glucose (1 g/L), RPMI 1640 MAX, With High Sodium Bicarbonate (3.7 g/L), RPMI 1640 MAX, With 15 mM HEPES (3.6 g/L), RPMI 1640 MAX, With 25 mM HEPES (5.9 g/L), RPMI 1640 MAX, With 15 mM HEPES (3.6 g/L), High Sodium Bicarbonate (3.7 g/L), RPMI 1640 MAX, With 25 mM HEPES (5.9 g/L), High Sodium Bicarbonate (3.7 g/L, RPMI 1640 MAX, w/o Phenol Red, with 15 mM HEPES (3.6 g/L), RPMI 1640 MAX, w/o Phenol Red, with 25 mM HEPES (5.9 g/L), RPMI 1640 MAX, w/o Phenol Red, High Sodium Bicarbonate (3.7 g/L)
Format

Liquid, Powder
Size

10 X 1000ml, 10 X 500ml, 1 x 500 ml, 6 x 500 ml, 1 x 1000 ml, 6 x 1000 ml, 1 x 10 L, 1 x 50 L

43 reviews for PurMa™ Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640-MAX (RPMI-1640-MAX)

  1. azadi@live.ca –

    Review: we have purchased Lipid Depleted FBS , DMEM F12 …. they were good quality and decent price
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 29-Jan-2025 23:10:30
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  2. Anonymous –

    Review:
    Have you purchased:
    Time of submission: 21-Feb-2025 15:30:00
    Ease of placing the order: ‘not given’

  3. Gregory-Mullen@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: We buy *all* of our cell culture media, fetal bovine sera, and lipid-depleted sera from PurMa. The quality of their reagents is absolutely top-notch, giving us reliable, repeatable results in our experiments. We highly recommend PurMa!
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 21-Feb-2025 15:46:22
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  4. Anonymous –

    Review:
    Have you purchased:
    Time of submission: 24-Feb-2025 13:50:14
    Ease of placing the order: ‘not given’

  5. lrothblu@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: Serum worked beautifully. Cells grew well and had their usual cycle time. Tissue culture medium also worked very well.
    Have you purchased: It is my first Purchase
    Time of submission: 24-Feb-2025 13:53:22
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  6. Anonymous –

    Review:
    Have you purchased:
    Time of submission: 27-Feb-2025 17:42:44
    Ease of placing the order: ‘not given’

  7. Anonymous –

    Review:
    Have you purchased:
    Time of submission: 05-Mar-2025 16:31:44
    Ease of placing the order: ‘not given’

  8. michael-rudolph@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: I have worked directly with PurMa biologics on a number of projects ongoing in my lab. I find the media and the specialty Lipid Depleted Serum to be high quality and very consistent among batches, which is critical to our adipogenesis projects using primary stem cells. Also, the service from PurMa is outstanding for my lab.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 05-Mar-2025 16:35:21
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  9. Anonymous –

    Review:
    Have you purchased:
    Time of submission: 05-Mar-2025 17:29:13
    Ease of placing the order: ‘not given’

  10. Anonymous –

    Review:
    Have you purchased:
    Time of submission: 10-Mar-2025 14:32:38
    Ease of placing the order: ‘not given’

  11. jkurien@hausbio.com –

    Review: We have been working with PurMa biologics for the past several years , we buy cell culture related media like DMEM F12 and EMEM and Fetal Bovine Serum . We appreciate the high quality and reasonable price, and great customer service.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 12-Mar-2025 12:34:09
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  12. hyeungk1968@gmail.comthe –

    Review: I used Lipid Free horse serum of PurMa Biologics.
    The quality is great!
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 17-Mar-2025 12:09:58
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  13. jaya-krishnan@omrf.org –

    Review: I started my lab using the regular Gibco media components. We have shifted to Purma past 6 months and see no difference in the quality of our cell culture. Simply saying that Purma is cheaper, quicker to deliver and as good as Gibco. The best part was that Purma customized several media for our fish cell lines which was really helpful. Lastly, Seif walked through the customization of media over Zoom, that gave a lot of confidence for using those media solutions.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 17-Mar-2025 14:22:58
    Ease of placing the order: 4/5

  14. tayyab-afzal@omrf.org –

    Review: We bought Premium FBS and DMEM cell culture media from PurMa Biologics. We are using them for several mammalian cell line and primary cell culture and the cell growth is perfectly fine. We are totally satisfied with the product quality. Importantly as local vendor, we can have the product available as per our demand ASAP.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 18-Mar-2025 10:01:50
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  15. Fitzkr@gmail.com –

    Review: We purchase everything we need related to cell and tissue culture from PurMa, reagents like: DMEM, LL15, EMEM, FBS, trypsin, antibiotics mix100X and…
    Always great quality, fast processing and shipping.
    We are totally satisfied.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 22-Mar-2025 10:47:00
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  16. vmadka@ouhsc.edu –

    Review:
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 24-Mar-2025 15:02:40
    Ease of placing the order: 4/5

  17. Anupam-Mandal@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: Excellent
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 24-Mar-2025 15:05:43
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  18. rohan-varshney@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: Reliable and dependable products. We purchased lipid-depleted FBS (LD-FBS) from PurMa Biologics and it worked great. We cross-checked the lipid content in the serum by GC-MS and Triglyceride assay and as advertised, did not find any lipids in the FBS.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 24-Mar-2025 15:06:38
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  19. Surendra-Shukla@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: Very fast, efficient, and economic service. Great for new PIs like me.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 25-Apr-2025 14:00:04
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  20. vmadka@ouhsc.edu –

    Review:
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 24-Mar-2025 15:02:40
    Ease of placing the order: 4/5

  21. Anupam-Mandal@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: Excellent
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 24-Mar-2025 15:05:43
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  22. anil-singh@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: NA
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 25-Mar-2025 10:11:14
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  23. Surendra-Shukla@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: Best quality products, best price.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 18-Apr-2025 09:51:03
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  24. madhusmita-rout@ouhsc.edu –

    Review:
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 21-Apr-2025 11:15:46
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  25. alexholloway@mesogen.com –

    Review: This serum appears to be a high quality product and worked well for our needs. Purma has an extensive catalog for cell culturing supplies which we are glad we came across.
    Have you purchased: It is my first Purchase
    Time of submission: 24-Apr-2025 16:54:29
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  26. jkurien@hausbio.com –

    Review: We have been working with PurMa biologics for the past several years , we buy cell culture related media like DMEM F12 and EMEM and Fetal Bovine Serum . We appreciate the high quality and reasonable price, and great customer service.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 12-Mar-2025 12:34:09
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  27. lrothblu@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: Serum worked beautifully. Cells grew well and had their usual cycle time. Tissue culture medium also worked very well.
    Have you purchased: It is my first Purchase
    Time of submission: 24-Feb-2025 13:53:22
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  28. hyeungk1968@gmail.comthe –

    Review: I used Lipid Free horse serum of PurMa Biologics.
    The quality is great!
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 17-Mar-2025 12:09:58
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  29. jaya-krishnan@omrf.org –

    Review: I started my lab using the regular Gibco media components. We have shifted to Purma past 6 months and see no difference in the quality of our cell culture. Simply saying that Purma is cheaper, quicker to deliver and as good as Gibco. The best part was that Purma customized several media for our fish cell lines which was really helpful. Lastly, Seif walked through the customization of media over Zoom, that gave a lot of confidence for using those media solutions.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 17-Mar-2025 14:22:58
    Ease of placing the order: 4/5

  30. michael-rudolph@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: I have worked directly with PurMa biologics on a number of projects ongoing in my lab. I find the media and the specialty Lipid Depleted Serum to be high quality and very consistent among batches, which is critical to our adipogenesis projects using primary stem cells. Also, the service from PurMa is outstanding for my lab.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 05-Mar-2025 16:35:21
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  31. tayyab-afzal@omrf.org –

    Review: We bought Premium FBS and DMEM cell culture media from PurMa Biologics. We are using them for several mammalian cell line and primary cell culture and the cell growth is perfectly fine. We are totally satisfied with the product quality. Importantly as local vendor, we can have the product available as per our demand ASAP.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 18-Mar-2025 10:01:50
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  32. Fitzkr@gmail.com –

    Review: We purchase everything we need related to cell and tissue culture from PurMa, reagents like: DMEM, LL15, EMEM, FBS, trypsin, antibiotics mix100X and…
    Always great quality, fast processing and shipping.
    We are totally satisfied.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 22-Mar-2025 10:47:00
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  33. Gregory-Mullen@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: We buy *all* of our cell culture media, fetal bovine sera, and lipid-depleted sera from PurMa. The quality of their reagents is absolutely top-notch, giving us reliable, repeatable results in our experiments. We highly recommend PurMa!
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 21-Feb-2025 15:46:22
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  34. azadi@live.ca –

    Review: we have purchased Lipid Depleted FBS , DMEM F12 …. they were good quality and decent price
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 29-Jan-2025 23:10:30
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  35. Ravi-Gor@ouhsc.edu –

    Review: I recently had the pleasure of interacting with Dr. Seif Azadi, and I want to express my gratitude for his expertise and timely assistance. His knowledge and dedication were instrumental in addressing our lab’s needs efficiently.
    Have you purchased: It is my first Purchase
    Time of submission: 25-Jun-2025 12:00:09
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  36. xiangpeng-li@ou.edu –

    Review: PurMa helped us with the customized medium. They are professional and friendly. I appreciate their great work.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 14-Aug-2025 12:59:31
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  37. jianhua.song@appliedstemcell.com –

    Review: it is reliable vendor!
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 07-Oct-2025 17:14:12
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  38. Zhenghui.Liu@appliedstemcell.com –

    Review: We always buy our agarose from PurMa and have never been disappointed.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 08-Oct-2025 11:17:53
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  39. ravi-gor@ou.edu –

    Review: I recently had the pleasure of interacting with Dr. Seif Azadi from Purma Biologics, and I cannot thank him enough for his expertise and prompt assistance. His deep knowledge and dedication were instrumental in meeting our laboratory’s needs with remarkable efficiency.
    We ordered FBS, DMEM, and Trypsin from Purma Biologics, and I’m thrilled to report that all the products have performed exceptionally well. They consistently deliver reproducible results, significantly enhancing the reliability of our experiments.
    Thank you, Team Purma Biologics, for your good products and support!
    Have you purchased: It is my first Purchase
    Time of submission: 23-Oct-2025 17:30:25
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  40. info@takbiotechs.com –

    Review: We are extremely satisfied with the quality and consistency of PURMA Biologics products. Both the FBS and cell culture media have delivered excellent performance in our applications, with reliable batch-to-batch consistency. Highly recommended for research and bioprocessing use.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 11-Apr-2026 14:49:27
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  41. aslan.batur@aytakbiotech.com –

    Review: We’ve had a great experience with PURMA Biologics products. In particular, their FBS has shown excellent consistency and performance, and their DMEM media has worked very well in our cell culture applications. Overall, very reliable quality.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 11-Apr-2026 14:57:39
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  42. maya.hart@takbiomed.com –

    Review: It’s been a pleasure working with PURMA Biologics. Their service is efficient, delivery is fast, and the quality of their products has met our expectations consistently. Very smooth collaboration overall.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 11-Apr-2026 15:06:47
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

  43. hajipour@etsu.edu –

    Review: PurMa products are of excellent quality and highly reliable.
    Have you purchased: Yes
    Time of submission: 11-Apr-2026 16:23:59
    Ease of placing the order: 5/5

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