Analysis of Histamine and Tyramine Using Prominence Amino Acid Analysis System

Introduction

Putrefactive non-volatile amines, histamine and tyramine, are formed through decomposition of histidine and tyrosine, respectively, due to the action of microorganisms. When ingested food such as processed products and red-fleshed fish such as tuna, bonito, mackerel, etc., contain a large amount of histamine, food poisoning symptoms such as fever, hives, and palpitations may appear. There are also reported cases of food poisoning associated with fermented foods such as wine and cheese. Further, tyramine can also strengthen the toxicity of histamine, and has been reported as a causative agent in food- associated migraine. Although there are no specific histamine-related regulations in Japan, in other countries, including the United States and the EU, Codex (International Food Standards) regulatory limits for histamine have been established for fish and fishery products. As tyramine and histamine, like amino acids, contain an amino group, fluorescence detection is possible using derivatization with ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA). Here, we introduce an example of analysis of tyramine and histamine using the Prominence Amino Acid Analysis System, in which detection is conducted using post-column fluorescence derivatization. Mobile phase and reagent kits, which are available for this application, contain the required mobile phases and reaction reagent solution, thus eliminating the tedious preparation of mobile phase. Moreover, as sample pretreatment consists only of filtering and dilution for this application, analysis can be conducted without complicated processing.

September 3, 2014 GMT