Determination of biogenic amines in cheese by ion exchange chromatography

A sensitive, fully automated method, yielding reproducible results, was developed for the determination of relevant biogenic amines in cheese. Histamine, tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine, tryptamine, agmatine, spermidine and spermine were separated in the ion exchanger of OSTION LG ANB column of the automatic amino acid analyser Mikrotechna 339 T. Elution was carried out at 60°C using a system of two buffers. The samples were extracted and precipitated by trichloroacetic acid and purified, after removal of fat, by membrane filtration. The recovery for individual amines in cheese ranged between 86% and 108%. The detection limit was of 1-5 mg of the respective amine per I kg of cheese and the method was linear within the dose range of 0.1 - 10 μg (for tryptamine 0.5-10 μg).