Determination of biogenic amines in wine by thin-layer chromatography/densitometry

Biogenic amines are small-molecular-weight organic bases that can be encountered in all fermented foods, including wine. Ingestion of wine containing biogenic amines, and especially histamine, can result in health nuisances. HPLC is the analytical technique most often employed in the determination of biogenic amines in wine but HPLC-based methods are expensive and time-consuming. A new method, based upon amine dansylation and TLC/densitometry, was developed and validated. This allowed for the determination of histamine, tyramine, putrescine and cadaverine in wine at concentrations between 1 and 20 mg/L. Analytical performances adequately complied with the needs of routine wine analysis, moreover the method was high-throughput and inexpensive. A simpler, semi-quantitative version of the method, based on visual evaluation of spot intensity, was also developed.