Simple, rapid and valid thin layer chromatographic method for determining biogenic amines in foods

A simple, rapid and valid thin layer chromatographic (TLC) method for determining biogenic amines in foods is established. Biogenic amines were extracted from foods with 5% TCA, the extract was washed by ethyl ether, the washed extract was dried and the dansyl derivatives were prepared. Separation of the dansylated amines was achieved on silica gel TLC plates by multiple development technique, and quantification was performed by densitometry at 254 nm. The response of the densitometer was linear and highly correlated with the amounts of dansylamines. The calculated determination coefficient (r(2)) ranged from 0.997 to 0.970. The sensitivity of the method was 45, 174, 703, 101, 132, 88, 515 and 61 for TRY, PUT, CAD, SPD, HIS, SPM, TYR and PHE, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the proposed method (repeatability) ranged from 0.39 to 6.36% for TYR (80 ng) and PHE (20 ng), respectively. The accuracy of the proposed method ranged from 86.2 to 93.2% for PHE and HIS, respectively, and there was no significant differences (p < 0.05) between the recoveries obtained for all kinds of food analyzed. The limit of detection of the proposed method was found to be 10 ng for TRY, SPM and PHE, and 5 ng for the other biogenic amines tested. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.