Determination of biogenic amines in beers and brewing-process samples by capillary electrophoresis coupled to laser-induced fluorescence detection

We have developed a sensitive capillary electrophoretic method for the simultaneous determination of 10 biogenic amine which usually appears in beer samples, using laser induced-fluorescence. Sample amines were first derivatized and filtered and then separated with an uncoated capillary tubing in the presence of 50 mM sodium borate and 20% acetone at pH 9.3 at 30 kV. It was possible to analyze biogenic amines in brewing-process samples and in beer samples in less than 30 min, obtaining detection limits between 0.3 μg l−1 for ethylamine and 11.9 μg l−1 for 1,6-hexanodiamine.