Abstract: Using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector and pre-column derivatization, we determined 8 biogenic amines(histamine, trptamine, 2-phenylethylamine, putrescine, cadaverine, tyramine, spermidine and spermine).The optimal derivative conditions are determined by investigating the effects of dansyl chloride concentration, pH, reaction time and reaction temperature on the derivatization of biogenic amines. The result shows that all amines are well resolved with dansyl chloride whose concentration is 10 times of that of biogenic amines at pH 11.0 and 40 ℃ in darkness for 45 min. The good repeatability of all biogenic amines with relative standard deviation ≤3% is considered acceptable.