Nano-liquid chromatography analysis of dansylated biogenic amines in wines

In this work, the simultaneous analysis of 10 biogenic amines (ethanolamine, methylamine, tryptamine, 2-phenylethylamine, putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, tyramine, spermidine and spermine) in wines by nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC) using UV detection and a capillary bidentate C18 column of 100 μm I.D. is proposed. The 10 selected amines, which are the most important to be determined in wine samples, were derivatized with dansyl-chloride (Dns-Cl) previous to their nano-LC determination. Excess of the derivatizing agent as well as other components of the samples were eliminated by the use of an on-line cleaning step employing a C18 trapping column which also provided a pre-concentration effect. The mobile phase composed of acetonitrile, water, acetic acid and triethylamine (TEA) mixture was pumped at a low flow rate (634 nL/min). Limits of detection (LODs) achieved ranged between 18.3 and 48.3 ng/mL; while calibration curves showed good linearity (R2 > 0.9924). The method was applied to the analysis of this group of amines in white and red wine samples after suitable treatment with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and extraction with C18 cartridges.