Selective and rapid determination of biogenic amines by capillary zone electrophoresis

Summary A rapid separation of 21 amines by high-performance capillary zone electrophoresis with indirect photometric detection is presented. The electrolyte is based on copper(II) as primary constituent. Factors affecting the separation by this electrolyte have been investigated and include the composition of the buffer, the voltage, the temperature and the mode of injection. External calibration was used to characterize the analytical response to each amine. The detection limits were approximately 0.05 μg mL⁻¹ for almost all the amines. After electrokinetic or hydrodynamic injection calibration plots of peak area against concentration were linear between 0.05 and 10 μg mL⁻¹. The method has been applied to the analysis of biogenic amines in synthetic samples; the recoveries of the amines from such samples, determined by the standard addition technique, were in the range 90 to 110%.