Abstract
The significance of amines and amino acids in wine, and the most recent techniques for their determination and quantification, are summarized. Liquid chromatography is by far the most important technique for determining amines and amino acids in wine. Derivatization and a modern fluorescence or UV detector are required. The most popular derivatization reagents for amines are orthophthalaldehyde and dansyl chloride, whereas many different agents are used for derivatizing amino acids. The classic amino acid analyzer is used as often as the liquid chromatograph for amino acid determination. In general, red wines contain significantly more amines than do white wines. Usually, wines contain only a few milligrams per liter of each of the most important amines, such as histamine, tyramine, and phenethylamine. The amount of total amino acids is several dozen-fold higher than the amount of total amines in wine. Red wine contains 300 to 1300 mg/L of the most abundant amino acid, proline, which means that proline accounts for 30% to 85% of the total amino acid content. Next in abundance are alanine, glutamic acid + glutamine, arginine, and γ-aminobutyric acid.
- Received June 1995.
- Copyright 1996 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture
Sign in for ASEV members
ASEV Members, please sign in at ASEV to access the journal online.
Sign in for Institutional and Non-member Subscribers
Log in using your username and password
Pay Per Article - You may access this article (from the computer you are currently using) for 2 day for US$10.00
Regain Access - You can regain access to a recent Pay per Article purchase if your access period has not yet expired.