Histamine and biogenic amines in Vietnamese traditional fish sauce by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A straightforward method for the determination of histamine and other biogenic amines in Vietnamese traditional fish sauce was developed, avoiding a time-consuming derivatisation step. This resulted in the application of hydrophilic interaction in combination with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS). The characteristics of the analytical method, such as linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), repeatability, stability, and matrix effects were systematically investigated. The validated method was successfully applied to analyse 8 biogenic amines in 15 Vietnamese traditional fish sauce samples, as well as 10 broth samples directly collected from the fermentation tanks. Among the eight investigated biogenic amines, histamine was found in all analysed samples, in some at high levels. However, in traditional fish sauce samples collected from supermarkets histamine levels were lower than the maximum level as set by European Union regulations.