Method development and cultivar-related differences of nine biogenic amines in Ontario wines

We have developed a new high-performance liquid chromatographic method using pre-column derivatization with orthophthalaldehyde, gradient elution and fluorescence detection to assay the concentrations of nine biogenic amines in wines: histamine, 1-methylhistamine, methylamine, ethylamine, tyramine, tryptamine, 2-phenylethylamine, putrescine and cadaverine. The method shows excellent analytical characteristics. It has been used to measure the concentration of these biogenic amines in 73 monovarietal wines from five red and six white cultivars. All wines were from the Niagara viticultural region of southern Ontario and were certified as to origin. Pinot noir wines had the highest content of total amines, and also of histamine, putrescine, cadaverine, ethylamine and 1-methylhistamine. Among the white wines, those from Chardonnay had the highest content of total amines and also of histamine, tyramine, methylamine and 1-methylhistamine. It is suggested that longer ageing as well as Sur-lie fermentation (Chardonnay) can account, at least in part, for these findings.