Rapid analysis of histamine in fish using capillary electrophoresis

A rapid and simple method was developed for quantitative analysis of histam ine in fish using capillary electrophoresis (CE). Samples were homogenized, extracted with 5% trichloroacetic acid, filtered, and subjected to CE. Det ection was achieved with a UV detector set at 210 nm. Identification was do ne from the: absorption spectra obtained with a photodiode array detector. This method was able to analyze histamine without a purification procedure or fluorescence derivatization, both of which are required in the HPLC meth od. Reproducibility of migration time and peak area were < 0.37% and < 4.6% , respectively, for histamine analysis (RSD, n = 5). Determination range wa s 50 similar to 10,000 mg/kg, and the correlation coefficient of the result s with those obtained by HPLC was 0.996 (n=12).