Chitosan was modified by salicylaldehyde via Schiff's base reaction and the resulting product was modified on the surface of an acetylene black paste electrode (ABPE) by the drop-coating method. In 0.5 mol L(-1) acetate buffer (pH 4.2), a substantial increase in the anodic stripping peak current of tryptophan (Trp) (compared to conventional bare carbon paste electrode (CPE) and bare ABPE) is observed at the Schiff's base chitosan-modified electrode. The parameters influencing voltammetric determination of Trp have been optimized. Under the selected conditions, the linearity between the anodic peak currents and concentrations of Trp demonstrated a wide range of 6.0 × 10(-8) mol L(-1) to 2.0 × 10(-6) mol L(-1), 2.0 × 10(-6) mol L(-1) to 4.0 × 10(-5) mol L(-1) and 4.0 × 10(-5) mol L(-1) to 1.0 × 10(-4) mol L(-1), a low detection limit of 2.0 × 10(-9) mol L(-1) was obtained after a 60 s accumulation. In addition, the developed electrochemical sensor has been successfully applied for the determination of Trp in pharmaceutical and biological samples with satisfactory assay results.