Flow injection determination of histamine with a histamine dehydrogenase-based electrode

A flow injection analysis (FIA) system for the determination of histamine was developed using histamine dehydrogenase (HmDH)-based electrode. Histamine dehydrogenase was immobilized in an osmium-derivatized redox polymer, poly(1-vinylimidazole) complexed with Os(4,4ʹ-dimethylbipyridine)2Cl2 (PVI-dmeOs), film on a glassy carbon electrode. As expected from the characteristics of this enzyme in a solution, this electrode exhibits high selectivity to histamine and is not sensitive to other primary amines including common biogenic amines, putrescine, cadaverine and tyramine. The detection limit for histamine was 100 pmol (5 (mu)M ×20 (mu)l injection) at a S/N ratio of 3, and response linearity was retained up to 0.6 mM. The FIA system was successfully applied to the determination of histamine in fish samples. The performance of the FIA system is discussed and compared with a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method which is routinely used for histamine analysis.