New Rapid, Simple, and Cheap Methods to Determine Tyramine in Fermented Beverages and Culture Medium

Abstract

Fermented beverages are frequently contaminated with biogenic amines, produced by lactic acid bacteria that exhibit decarboxylase activity. Wine spoilage can occur when increased tyramine concentrations creates a product harmful to consumers. Determination of tyramine is important because it elevates blood pressure, which might cause a migraine attack in susceptible persons. We developed two rapid, inexpensive, and simple methods, a colorimetric technique and a thin-layer chromatography technique, to determine tyramine concentrations in culture medium and wine without complicated extraction procedures. The new colorimetric method showed high correlation between absorbance and tyramine concentrations from 1.0 to 100 mg/L in Moeller culture broth and red wine (r2 = 0.9995 and 0.9988, respectively). Thin-layer chromatography (nTLC) with a new visualization reagent also demonstrated a high correlation among tyramine concentrations between 5.0 and 100 mg/L and absorbance, with an r2 of 0.988. Both new methods showed a high correlation with high-performance liquid chromatography (colorimetric method, r2 = 0.9995; nTLC, r2 = 0.9982) and exhibited good tyramine recovery (>83%). The detection limit of the two new methods was comparable with existing analytical methods. The new assays are simple, inexpensive, and do not require any laborious pre-treatment of the samples. Both methods are suitable for routine analysis to quickly and safely monitor tyramine in a research or wine quality control laboratory. The methods were validated in various matrices: in culture media frequently used in microbiology laboratories, in common Argentine wine varietals, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Torrontés, and in other fermented beverages, such as sparkling wine, cider, and craft beer.