Extraction efficiency of different solvents and LC-UV determination od biogenic amines in tea leaves and infusions

Biogenic amines (BAs), that is, spermine, spermidine, putrescine, histamine, tyramine, �-phenylethylamine, cadaverine, andserotonin, have been determined in several samples of tea leaves, tea infusions, and tea drinks by LC-UVmethod ater derivatizationwith dansyl chloride. Diferent extraction solvents have been tested and TCA 5% showed better analytical performances in termsof linearity, recovery percentages, LOD, LOQ, and repeatability than HCl 0.1M and HClO4 0.1M and was inally exploited forthe quantitative determination of BAs in all samples. In tea leaves total BAs concentration ranged from 2.23 �gg−1to 11.24 �gg−1and PUT (1.05–2.25 �gg−1) and SPD (1.01–1.95 �gg−1) were always present, while SER (nd–1.56 �gg−1), HIS (nd–2.44 �gg−1), andSPM (nd–1.64 �gg−1) were detected more rarely. CAD and PHE were determined in few samples at much lower concentrationswhile none of the samples contained TYR. Tea infusions showed the same trend with total BAs concentrations never exceeding80.7 �gL−1. Black teas showed higher amounts of BAs than green teas and organic and decafeinated samples always containedmuch lower BAs levels than their conventional counterparts.