Separation and determination of biogenic amines in fish using MEKC with novel multiphoton excitation fluorescence detection

Abstract

Biogenic amines are a group of biological molecules derived from the enzymatic decarboxylation of natural amino acids. They can be found in a variety of foods and some of them are involved in essential cellular pathways regulating cellular functions. To address the issues raised by conventional detection methods for biogenic amines, such as laborious sample preparation and limited sensitivity, a new micellar electrokinetic chromatography scheme was developed based on multiphoton excitation fluorescence (MPEF) detection. Six FITC-labeled biogenic amine species were used for the evaluation of this MEKC-MPEF method in comparison to single photon excitation fluorescence detection. The results indicated that MEKC-MPEF had superior resolution with a detection volume as low as aL. Quantitative analysis of varying concentrations of biogenic amine species has also been achieved suggesting a ymole mass detection limit, a linear dynamic range of about two orders of magnitude, and 95-105% recoveries. Furthermore, the biogenic amine profile of decayed oriental crucian carps was successfully determined and quantified using this new method.