ION-EXCHANGE SEPARATION AND PULSED AMPEROMETRIC DETECTION FOR DETERMINATION OF BIOGENIC-AMINES IN FISH PRODUCTS

A new method based on ion exchange chromatography with integrated pulsed amperometric detection has been developed for simultaneous determination of underivatized biogenic amines and applied to the analysis of cadaverine, putrescine, spermidine, and histamine in fish products. The amines were extracted from fish products with a mixture of 5 % aqueous trichloroacetic acid, 6N hydrochloric acid, and n-heptane. The extract was passed through a C18 cartridge and the biogenic amines separated by cation exchange on an IonPac CS10 column using gradient elution. Detection was performed by integrated pulsed amperometry, and resulted in estimated detection limits of 5 ng for putrescine, 12 ng for cadaverine and histamine, and 25 ng for spermidine. The method was linear in the range 0.025 to 5 mug of injected amine. This method was applied to the analysis of products from fish such as Scombridae and Clupeidae. The average recoveries were greater than 92 %.