Original research articleBiogenic amines in liqueurs: Influence of processing and composition

- Biogenic amines in liqueurs of fruit, herbs, coffee, honey and milk.
- Total content of amines range from 0.168 to 4.657 mg/L.
- Putrescine, dimethylamine, morphine and ethylamine were the most prevalent amine.
- Maximum total biogenic amine content was found in fruit liqueurs.
- Significant difference was found between homemade and commercial liqueurs.

With the aim to evaluate the presence of biogenic amines (BA) in liqueurs, a previously developed dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was validated for a reliable and sensitive analysis of 18 BA from different chemical classes (aliphatic, heterocyclic and aromatic). The proposed method is based on an advanced procedure that allows simultaneous extraction and derivatization of all the amines in study through a simple and fast way. Very good figures for linearity (correlation coefficient >0.999), intra- and inter-day repeatability (maximum coefficient of variation of 10%) and recovery (79-108%) were obtained for all BA under study. Detection and quantification limits were lower than 4 μg/L and 10 μg/L, respectively. The validated method was used to screen the presence of BA in liqueurs from different origin and processing mode in a total of 27 samples, including 11 fruit liqueurs, 8 herbs liqueurs, 5 coffee liqueurs, 2 honey liqueurs, and 1 milk liqueur. The volatile amines methylamine, ethylamine, and dimethylamine, and the non-volatile amines morpholine, cadaverine, and histamine, were the BA more often detected. Although found in only 15 out of 27 samples, putrescine showed the higher mean content. Overall, coffee, honey and fruits liqueurs had significantly higher levels of BA (p < 0.05) than those found in milk and herb liqueurs. The variability observed between samples was influenced by the type of components as well as by the different modes of production (homemade or industrial). Indeed, homemade sample had significantly higher amounts of BA (p < 0.05) than industrial samples.