Simultaneous determination of β-alanine betaine and trimethylamine in bacterial culture and plant samples by capillary electrophoresis

Abstract

Background: 3-N-trimethylaminopropionic acid (β-alanine betaine) and trimethylamine (TMA) are important nitrogenous compounds that perform fundamental roles in biological pathways throughout all kingdoms of life; however, yet their simultaneous determination method is hardly reported. Methods: Capillary electrophoresis method for the simultaneous determination of TMA and β-alanine betaine in microbial culture and plant samples was developed. To increase the sensitivity, TMA and β-alanine betaine in the samples were first derivatized with bromophenacyl bromide and then analyzed by capillary electrophoresis under low pH. Results: The derivatization was found to be practically useful for the elimination of interfering substances from plant and microbial extracts, as well as giving well resolved peaks for the analytes (β-alanine betaine esters and TMA salt). Analytical features of the developed method showed its respectable performance in terms of linearity (r2 > 0.99), precision (relative standard deviation (RSD) < 5%), and detection limits (0.01 mM). Conclusion: The developed method allows the quantitative determination of TMA and β-alanine betaine in complex biological samples and assists to study biosynthetic and degradation pathways of these important compounds.