Liquid chromatographic method for determination of biogenic amines in fish and fish products

A liquid chromatographic method with postcolumn derivatization is described for determination of biogenic amines in fish and fish products. Histamine, tyramine, serotonin, beta-phenylethylamine, tryptamine, putrescine, cadaverine, agmatine, spermine, and spermidine can be determined in less than 60 min. Routine sample preinjection treatment implies only 2 extractions with 0.6N perchloric acid and filtration through a 0.45 micron filter. Lack of interferences from volatile amines, amino acids, and dipeptides was verified. Results of reliability study were satisfactory. The proposed method was linear for each amine between 0.25 and 8.00 mg/L. Average recoveries ranged from 92 to 103%. Precisions (coefficients of variation) ranged from 0.70 to 9.75%. Determination limits were < or = 1 mg/kg. A modification in LC conditions was necessary to apply the method to ripened fish products to avoid interferences from food matrixes. In addition, stability of biogenic amines in fresh anchovies and hake during short-term frozen storage was studied. Results showed that, except for agmatine, frozen storage is suitable for keeping samples before analysis.