Abstract
Histamine is a biogen amin, which is formed by decarboxylation of the histidine amino acid, under the action of the L-histidine-decarboxylase enzyme. High level of free histidine in fish meat, bacterial histidin decarboxylase activity and high temperature of storage elevate the level of histamine. Among the most important factors that can affect the level of histamine in fish meat are the type of fish and the method of its preservation. In order to determine this dependence, 1030 samples of frozen fish (tuna, mackerel, sardines and sprat) and 167 samples of canned fish (tuna, sardines and mackerel) were monitored for histamine content by ELISA method. It was determined a lower concentration of histamine in frozen fish (from 5.71 mg/kg to 18.03 mg/kg) compared to canned fish (from 15.03 mg/kg to 110.6 mg/kg). The highest histamine concentrations were found in the mackerel samples, regardless of the preservation method (110.6 mg/kg in canned mackerel and 18.03 mg/kg in frozen mackerel), which were significantly higher compared to the histamine levels found in cans of tuna and sardines (p ˂0.0001). Of the total number of samples, three samples (two samples of canned sardines and one sample of canned mackerel) were declared unsafe for human health. In most of the analyzed samples, the level of determined histamine was relatively low, which confirms adequate implementation of control protocols and efficant surveillance of products placed on the Serbian market.
Highlights
Histamine is a bioactive amine, which consist of imidazole ring with two nitrogen atoms and the aliphatic amino group
Histamine was not detected in 103 of total 167 samples of frozen fish i.e. in the 61.67% of total number of samples histamine concertation was below the limit of detection (LOD) (2.5 mg/kg)
The difference was statistically significant compared to histamine level in frozen tuna (5.71 mg/kg) and frozen sprat (5.77 mg/kg) at the level of 95% (P
Summary
Histamine is a bioactive amine, which consist of imidazole ring with two nitrogen atoms and the aliphatic amino group. Ingestion of high amounts of histamine cause scombrotoxin reactions, often called histamine poisoning. Histamine is synthetized in decarboxylation of the amino acid histidine, and reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme L-histidine decarboxylase. The ability to produce the enzyme have certain bacteria, and the most common are Escherichia coli, Morganella morganii, Proteus spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Hafnia alvei... Histamine-forming bacteria are capable of growing and producing histamine over a wide temperature range, but high temperature promotes the histamine synthesis. Inadequate cooling of fish during storage elevates the histamine concentration. Histamine is considered to be a chemical indicator of a spoilage or decomposition pro-
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