Direct determination of cadaverine in the volatile fraction of aerobically stored chicken breast samples

To supplement the currently used methods for poultry meat shelf life assessment, it might be necessary to develop a technique for rapid headspace analysis of volatiles with no prior sample preparation step. Biogenic amines, in particular cadaverine, are considered meat spoilage indicators. Described in this article are the results of a preliminary investigation of the applicability of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry in the determination of cadaverine concentration in the volatile fraction of poultry meat samples stored in aerobic conditions. Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and determination of total viable bacteria were used as reference methods. It was determined that there is a good correlation (Pearson correlation of 0.96) between the concentration of cadaverine in the headspace of chicken meat samples stored over a period of 5 days and the total viable bacteria count. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the changes of cadaverine concentration in the meat samples' volatile fraction can be successfully monitored with a short time of a single analysis and with no sample preparation. Graphical abstract: .