Abstract:
There is burgeoning interest among supramolecular chemists to develop novel molecular systems to detect
biogenic amines and bio-thiols in aqueous and non-aqueous media due to their potential role in biological
processes. Biogenic amines are biologically important targets because of their involvement in the energy
metabolism of human biological systems and their requirement is met through food and nutrition. However,
the increasing instances of serious health problems due to food toxicity have raised the quality of food
nowadays. Biogenic amines have been frequently considered as the markers or primary quality parameters
of foods like antioxidant properties, freshness and spoilage. For instance, these amines such as spermine,
spermidine, cadavarine, etc. may originate during microbial decarboxylation of amino acids of fermented
foods/beverages. These amines may also react with nitrite available in certain meat products and
concomitantly produce carcinogenic nitrosamine compounds. On the other hand, it is also well established
that biothiols, particularly, thiol amino acids, provide the basic characteristics to food including flavor, color
and texture that determine its acceptability. For instance, the reduction of thiol groups produces hydrogen
sulfide which reduces flavour as in rotten eggs and spoiled fish, and the presence of hydrogen sulfide in fish
is indicative of spoilage. Thus, biogenic amines and bio-thiols have attracted the profound interest of
researchers as analytical tools for their quantification. Much scientific and technological information is issued
every year, where the establishment of precise interactions of biogenic amines and bio-thiols with other
molecules is sought in aqueous and non-aqueous media. This review summarizes the optical chemosensors
developed for the selective detection of biogenic amines and bio-thiols.
