Determination of proline in wine using flow injection analysis with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence detection.

Flow injection methodology is described for the determination of proline in red and white wines using tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence detection. Selective conditions were achieved for proline at pH 10, while other amino acids and wine components did not interfere. The precision of the method was less than 1.00% (R.S.D.) for five replicates of a standard (4 x 10(-6)M) and the detection limit was 1 x 10(-8)M. The level of proline in white and sparkling wines using the developed methodology was equivalent to those achieved using HPLC-FMOC amino acid analysis. SPE removal of phenolic material was required for red wines to minimize Ru(bipy)(3)(3+) consumption and its associated effect on accuracy.