Abstract
This contribution aimed to measure for the first time the amount of biogenic amines (BAs) in one of the most ancient and traditional sheep cheese produced in Sardinia, Italy: the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Fiore Sardo. To achieve this, an original RP-HPLC-DAD-UV method has been developed that was completely validated in terms of LoD, LoQ, linearity, precision and trueness, and tested on 36 real Fiore Sardo PDO cheese samples produced by four different cheesemakers and marketed by four stores. The average total concentration of the eight BAs (i.e., tyramine, tryptamine, histidine, putrescine, cadaverine, 2-phenylethylamine, spermine and spermidine) measured in Fiore Sardo cheese was 700 mg/kg, with a range between 170 mg/kg and 1,100 mg/kg. A great variability in the total amount of BAs has been evidenced among the Fiore Sardo marketed in the four stores as well as for the cheeses purchased in different times in the same store. Tyramine (350 mg/kg), putrescine (150 mg/kg), histamine (80 mg/kg) and cadaverine (30 mg/kg) are the most abundant BAs found in this matrix. Among the many factors concurring, the dominant microflora of Fiore Sardo PDO is likely the principal cause of the qualitative and quantitative distribution of BAs in this matrix. Finally, the total amount of BAs found in Fiore Sardo PDO is not able to cause any health alert situation for consumers.
Highlights
Biogenic amines (BAs) are organic bases characterized by a low molecular weight, a medium polarity and the presence of at least one aminic group bonded to an aliphatic, aromatic or heterocyclic moiety
On the basis of the previous results that our research group has achieved in last years in the assessment, validation and application of new methods for the determination of analytes of specific interest in sheep cheeses [65,67,72,73,74], the principal aim of this study is to develop and validate an original RP-HPLC method devoted to the determination of eight
In the specific case of cheese, the extraction of BAs has been accomplished by repeated treatment of the grated sample with aliquots of 0.1 mol/L aqueous solution of HCl, which proved in the past to be a very good choice for the extraction of biogenic amines from this matrix [54]
Summary
Biogenic amines (BAs) are organic bases characterized by a low molecular weight, a medium polarity and the presence of at least one aminic group bonded to an aliphatic, aromatic or heterocyclic moiety. BAs can be formed in food containing mainly proteins (or, free amino acids) or carbonylic compounds such as aldehydes or ketones. As a matter of fact, it is well known that the bacterial decarboxylation of amino acids or transamination of simple carbonylic compounds lead to the formation of BAs [1,2,3]. The polyamines spermine (Spm) and spermidine (Spd) are often naturally present in food [8]. Their excess has been recently associated with potential health risks [9,10]. Despite their recognized toxicity, Separations 2019, 6, 11; doi:10.3390/separations6010011 www.mdpi.com/journal/separations
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