Chemometric evaluation of biogenic amines in commercial fruit juices

The profile and level of 11 biogenic amines were evaluated in commercial fruit juices (apple, grapefruit, orange and pineapple) and fruit nectars (apricot, peach and pear) by HPLC/FD after dansyl chloride derivatization. The biogenic amine most present in nectars is cadaverine, followed by putrescine, spermidine and spermine. Fruit juices showed a wider variability in biogenic amines profile and level, with the highest total content in orange juices. The application of chemometric tools as hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis on the biogenic amine profiles of the juice samples succeeded in grouping juices on the basis of the fruit of origin. A Mathematical model with high predictive ability for fruit juices classification was obtained by linear discriminant analysis: orange (100 %), pineapple (100 %), grapefruit (80 %) and apple (70 %). This study represents the first description of biogenic amines content in these beverages. These compounds are well-known important quality parameters and demonstrated to have also a characteristic profile depending on the fruit of origin.