Aminoethanol

Better known as ethanolamine, a simple amine that in pure form is a colourless, combustible, hygroscopic liquid smelling faintly of ammonia. It belongs to the biogenic amine family and turns up in fermented foods such as wine and cheese, where microbes produce it by decarboxylating the amino acid serine. Its larger importance is structural: ethanolamine is the headgroup of phosphatidylethanolamine, a major phospholipid of cell membranes, and an industrial intermediate for detergents and gas scrubbing. In fermented foods its presence is normally harmless, but like other biogenic amines it is monitored as part of overall amine load.