A liquid chromatographic (LC) analysis for the determination of seven amines, tyramine (Tym), histamine (Him), phenethylamine (Phm), putrescine (Put), cadaverine (Cad), spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm) in soybean paste (Miso), soy sauce (Shoyu) and its products was studied. The amines in the sample were extracted with 0.1N HCl and applied to a column of Amberlite CG-50 and derivatized with dansyl chloride for the application to the liquid chromatography. The LC separations were performed on a Finepak SIL C18S column with an acetonitrile-water elution gradient. The amines were confirmed by TLC for Him and by GC-MS for others with ethyloxycarbonyl derivatives. In the survey of commercial samples by this method, most of Miso samples and ann of Shoyu samples were found to contain these 7 amines. Tym and Him were determined in the range of nd-194, nd-177 μg/g in every kind of Miso, and 95.8-356, 62.8-232 μg/g in Shoyu and its products as average which were higher than the other amines. Shoyu, in general, had higher Him and Tym contents than Miso samples. However the contents of the other amines in both Shoyu and Miso samples were the same levels. It was considered that Tym, Him and Phm were produced by microorganism in a manufacturing process because these amines were not detected from such raw materials as koji (malted rice) and soy beans of Miso and Shoyu. Put, Cad, Spd and Spm were originated from the raw materials, because the contents of these amines in the samples were nearly the same as those of raw materials.
