Studies on the Determination of Biogenic Amines in Foods. 1. Development of a TLC Method for the Determination of Eight Biogenic Amines in Fish

Abstract

Ingestion of foods that contain high levels of histamine causes clinical symptoms, namely histamine poisoning. During the course of this investigation eight biogenic amines in fish samples, including histamine, putrescine, cadaverine, tyramine, tryptamine, spermine, spermidine, and beta-phenylethylamine, were separated and quantitated by TLC technique. Many solvent systems were evaluated, with the best separation in one dimension when benzene/triethylamine (5:1) was used as a developing system, which enabled separation of histamine in addition to spermine, tyramine, and beta-phenylethylamine. However, the other four biogenic amines were not separated using this developing system. The only way to separate the eight tested biogenic amines was by using a two-dimensional TLC procedure. The running system in the first direction was benzene/triethylamine/acetone (10:2:1), and the solvent system in the second direction was benzene/triethylamine (5:1). This method provides a simple and inexpensive means to separate and detect biogenic amines in fish samples.