Selective determination of histamine by flow injection analysis.

A flow injection analysis (FIA) method for determination of histamine is described. Control of reaction timing allows exploitation of a transient, chemical-kinetic increase in selectivity that occurs when o-phthalaldehyde reacts with histamine. The molar fluorescence ratio (selectivity) of histamine-histidine reaches a maximum value of 800 in 32 s, precluding the need for separation of histamine from histidine, spermidine, and other potential interferences in biological samples