Development of a capillary electrophoresis method based on magnetic solid‐phase extraction for simultaneous and sensitive detection of eight biogenic amines in foods

Abstract BACKGROUND Biogenic amines (BAs) in high concentrations are toxic and may cause a series of health symptoms. A sensitive measurement of BA levels is essential for human health. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) has emerged for the separation of eight BAs due to simple sample preparation and highly efficient separation. However, an important drawback for CE is low sensitivity. Magnetic solid‐phase extraction (MSPE) has become a technique of interest owing to its brief operation and low solvent consumption. Hence, MSPE as a pretreatment has great potential to improve CE sensitivity for the analysis of BAs in complex food. RESULTS Results showed that the Pt‐Co‐MWCNTs‐COOH possessed strong magnetism, good reusability, and high adsorptive ability toward eight biogenic amines based on the hydrogen bonding between the −COOH of Pt‐Co‐MWCNTs‐COOH and −NH 2 groups of BAs. Using it as an adsorbent, a magnetic solid‐phase extraction coupled with capillary electrophoresis (MSPE‐CE) method was developed to effectively extract and sensitively analyze eight BAs. Under optimal conditions, the MSPE‐CE method has wide linearities (10.0–1000.0 μg L −1 ) and low limits of detection (1.0–6.1 μg L −1 ). The accuracy of the developed method yielded recovery values from 82.07% to 102.58%. Meanwhile, the BAs contents in two samples were analyzed using the MSPE‐CE method, with the results consistent with those detected by a high‐performance liquid chromatography method. CONCLUSION Given those advantages, the established MSPE‐CE method promises the practical guidance of monitoring a variety of BAs and provides a foundation for the detection of other food hazards. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.