Development of a High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode Array Detector (HPLC-DAD) Method for Determination of Biogenic Amines in Ripened Cheeses

Biogenic amines (BAs) are organic, basic nitrogenous compounds formed during the decarboxylation of amino acids. A method for the determination of eight biogenic amines (tryptamine, 2-phenyletylamine, putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, tyramine, spermidine, spermine) in ripened cheeses was developed and validated. Cheese samples with the addition of internal standards were extracted with 0.2 M perchloric acid and pre-column derivatized with dansyl chloride at 60 °C for 15 min, purified with toluene and dried under a stream of nitrogen. The samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The method was validated with the BAs at three concentration levels: 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, respectively. The obtained values of correlation coefficient (R²) ranged at 0.9997–0.9998 for all of compounds. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were in ranges 1.53–1.88 and 5.13–6.28 mg/kg, respectively. The recovery for all of biogenic amines ranged from 70 to 120% and the precision (RSDr) value were <20%. The validated method was applied to analysis of 35 real ripened cheese samples purchased in Poland.