Assay of biogenic amines involved in fish decomposition.

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method is described for quantitative determination of putrefaction amines: putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, spermidine, and spermine. These amines are extracted from fish by grinding with perchloric acid at -20 degrees C. The amines are reacted with dansyl chloride at alkaline pH, dried under a stream of nitrogen, placed in an automatic injector at -20 degrees C, and separated in a Kromasil C18 reversed-phase column at 25 degrees C. A new gradient elutes the amines in 22 min and regenerates the column in 30 min. Regression lines are obtained with high coefficients of correlation. This method is faster and more reproducible than other methods and shows that the quality index is a reliable, albeit species-specific, criterion of fish decomposition.