Vortex-assisted surfactant-enhanced-emulsification liquid-liquid microextraction of biogenic amines in fermented foods before their simultaneous analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A simple, rapid, sensitive, and environmentally friendly method, based on modified dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed for the simultaneous determination of five biogenic amines in fermented food samples. Biogenic amines were derivatized with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate, extracted by vortex-assisted surfactant-enhanced emulsification liquid-liquid microextraction, and then analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Five biogenic amine compounds were separated within 30 min using a C18 column and gradient elution with acetonitrile and 1% acetic acid. Factors influencing the derivatization and extraction efficiency such as type and volume of extraction solvent, type, and concentration of surfactant, pH, salt addition, and vortex time were optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the method provided the enrichment factors in the range of 161-553. Good linearity was obtained from 0.002-0.5 mg/L for cadaverine and tyramine, 0.003-1 mg/L for tryptamine and histamine, and 0.005-1 mg/L for spermidine with coefficient of determination (R(2) ) > 0.992. The limits of detection ranged from 0.0010 to 0.0026 mg/L. The proposed method was successfully applied to analysis of biogenic amines in fermented foods such as fermented fish (plaa-som), wine and beer where good recoveries were obtained in the range of 83.2-112.5%