Development of an automated on-line pre-column derivatization procedure for sensitive determination of histamine in food with high-performance liquid chromatography–fluorescence detection

Abstract

a b s t r a c tAn improved sensitive method was developed and validated for the determination of histamine in food samples by using automated on-line pre-column derivatization coupled with high performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). o-Phthaldialdehyde (OPA) was adopted as derivatization reagent, and a "sandwich" (OPA + histamine + OPA) aspiration mode for the automated online pre-column derivatization was found to efficiently enhance the method sensitivity and precision. Histamine in food samples was efficiently extracted with a methanol-phosphate buffer solution (50:50, v/v) at 60• C for 30 min, and purified with Waters Oasis MCX solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge. The limit of quantification for this method is 0.2 mg/kg, which is very sensitive for histamine determination. With the "sandwich" injection program, 3.7% of relative standard deviation (RSD) was achieved by five replicative determinations of a sample blank spiked with 0.25 mg/kg histamine standard. Histamine in food samples such as fumitory skipjack and mackerel was analyzed with relative recoveries over 95% at spiking level of 150 mg/kg, as well as canned tuna fish and cheese with relative recoveries up to 98% at spiking levels of 0.50 and 5.0 mg/kg, respectively. The proposed method was validated with a sample from the Food Analysis Performance Assessment Scheme (FAPAS) as a standard certified material; and the results (140 ± 6 mg/kg) agreed well with the assigned value (139 mg/kg).

Development and validation of an HPLC-FLD method for rapid determination of histamine in skipjack tuna fish (Katsuwonus pelamis)

“…Moreover, the reaction is time-consuming even under heating. The reaction between fluorescamine and histamine is not recommended due to the instability and complexity of the product; however, the reaction time is only a few minutes (Peng et al, 2008). Short elution time, stability, relatively low cost and availability, and the ability to react with both primary and secondary amines are some advantages of benzoyl chloride (Özdestan & Üren, 2009).…”

“…Precolumn derivatization with OPA is commonly used for HPLC analysis of histamine (Peng et al, 2008). One of the advantages of OPA is that it reacts quickly with biogenic amines.…”

A Nanoporous Alumina Membrane Based Electrochemical Biosensor for Histamine Determination with Biofunctionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles Concentration and Signal Amplification

“…Histamine is also formed by enzymatic decarbonylation of histidine by bacterial action with improper processing procedures or inappropriate storage conditions of food, and hence could be present in substantial amounts in fermented food stuffs and seafood, especially saury, mackerel, sardine, tuna, herring, and anchovy [1,2]. Therefore, it is often used as one of the indicators for food quality control in the processes of production, storage, transportation, and transaction [3]. Histamine can enter the human body by dietary sources and can bind to receptors on cellular membranes in the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and haemotological immunological system, thereby initiating allergic reactions such as hypotension, flushing, diarrhea, vomiting, and headaches [4,5].…”

Histamine determination in human urine using sub‐2 μm C18 column with fluorescence and mass spectrometric detection

“…This novel online automated precolumn derivatization procedure involved “sandwich” mode where segments between the samples with OPA (OPA 2.5 mg/mL—sample 1 mg/mL—OPA 2.5 mg/mL) was adopted. The detection limit of this method was approximately 90 nM []. Casal et al also described a specific and sensitive method for determination of histamine in food matrixes, using dansyl derivatives.…”