Biogenic amines in Chinese soy sauce

The biogenic amine contents in 40 samples of Chinese soy sauce from different manufactures were determined using HPLC after pre-column derivatization with dansyl chloride. Also, the amino nitrogen levels and pH values of these samples were analyzed. Of the five biogenic amines under study, tyramine was the most prevailing amine and was detected in 97.5% of the samples, followed by spermidine (95%), histamine (92.5%), cadaverine (82.5%) and spermine (80%). The total content for the five biogenic amines in these samples was 497 mg/l with a range from 41.7 to 1357 mg/l. The pH and amino nitrogen levels in soy sauce samples were between 3.86 and 4.98 and between 0.25 and 1.26 mg/100 g, respectively. In general, total content for the five biogenic amines was high in samples that had high amino nitrogen levels.