Derivatization strategies for the determination of histamine in food samples: A review of recent separation-based methods

Histamine is one of the most interesting biogenic amines in terms of chemical properties, biological role, and significance in the food industry. It is present in numerous popular food products and it has been associated with poisoning incidents related to fisheries, wine and cheese consumption worldwide. The current review focuses on the discussion of recent, derivatization-based separation methods for the determination of histamine in food matrices. Almost 20 years of coverage of the recent literature revealed that the derivatization of histamine is widely adopted for enhancement in the sensitivity, selectivity and compatibility to analytical techniques. The most recent derivatizing reagents for histamine are included with an emphasis on experimental conditions and efficiency. In terms of techniques, HPLC combined with pre/post-column reactions, but also alternative methods based on TLC, GC and CE are discussed. Discussion on the extraction of histamine from food matrices and recent findings from real-world applications are also included.