Impact of Biogenic Amines on Food Quality and Safety.

Fermented soybean foods possess significant health-promoting effects and are consumed worldwide, especially within Asia, but less attention has been paid to the safety of the foods. Since fermented soybean foods contain abundant amino acids and biogenic amine-producing microorganisms, it is necessary to understand the presence of biogenic amines in the foods. The amounts of biogenic amines in most products have been reported to be within safe levels. Conversely, certain products contain vasoactive biogenic amines greater than toxic levels. Nonetheless, government legislation regulating biogenic amines in fermented soybean foods is not found throughout the world. Therefore, it is necessary to provide strategies to reduce biogenic amine formation in the foods. Alongside numerous existing intervention methods, the use of Bacillus starter cultures capable of degrading and/or incapable of producing biogenic amines has been proposed as a guaranteed way to reduce biogenic amines in fermented soybean foods, considering that Bacillus species have been known as fermenting microorganisms responsible for biogenic amine formation in the foods. Molecular genetic studies of Bacillus genes involved in the formation and degradation of biogenic amines would be helpful in selecting starter cultures. This review summarizes the presence and control strategies of biogenic amines in fermented soybean foods.

The term defines decarboxylation products such as histamine, putrescine, serotonin, tyramine, phenylethylamine, tryptamine and also aliphatic polyamines. They can be detected in both raw and processed foods. In the recent years, there is a great interest in biogenic amines as they are associated with quality, safety and freshness of some foods, particularly fermented foods. The presence of biogenic amines in foods can also be used as an indicator of hygienic quality. Biogenic amines also cause health hazards due to their toxic effects especially in sensitive individuals. It is therefore important to control and reduce the biogenic amines. The reduction can be brought about by the use of high pressure, irradiation, packaging, additives, starter cultures and by reduction of decarboxylase activity and temperature. This review summarizes the significance, function, occurrence and formation of biogenic amines in different foods and their reduction by different methods.

Chapter 27 - Biogenic Amines in Fermented Foods and Health Implications

Biogenic amines (BAs) are low molecular weight organic bases with an aliphatic, aromatic, or heterocyclic structure which have been found in many foods. biogenic amines have been related with several outbreaks of food-borne intoxication and are very important in public health concern because of their potential toxic effects. The accumulation of biogenic amines in foods is mainly due to the presence of bacteria able to decarboxylate certain amino acids. Biogenic amines are formed when the alpha carboxvl group breaks away from free amino acid precursors. They are colled after the amino acid they originated from. The main biogenic amines producers in foods are Gram positive bacteria and cheese is among the most commonly implicated foods associated with biogenic amines poisoning. The consumption of foods containing high concentrations of biogenic amines has been associated with health hazards and they are used as a quality indicator that shows the degree of spoilage, use of non-hygienic raw material and poor manufacturing practice. Biogenic amines may also be considered as carcinogens because they are able to react with nitrites to form potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines. Generally, biogenic amines in foods can be controlled by strict use of good hygiene in both raw material and manufacturing environments with corresponding inhibition of spoiling microorganisms. The aim of this review was to give some information about biogenic amines in foods.

Biogenic Amines in Portuguese Traditional Foods and Wines

This review presents the state-of-the-art of optical sensors for determination of biogenic amines (BAs) in food by publications covering about the last 10 years. Interest in the development of rapid and preferably on-site methods for quantification of BAs is based on their important role in implementation and regulation of various physiological processes. At the same time, BAs can develop in different kinds of food by fermentation processes or microbial activity or arise due to contamination, which induces toxicological risks and food poisoning and causes serious health issues. Therefore, various optical chemosensor systems have been devised that are easy to assemble and fast responding and low-cost analytical tools. If amenable to on-site analysis, they are an attractive alternative to existing instrumental analytical methods used for BA determination in food. Hence, also portable sensor systems or dipstick sensors are described based on various probes that typically enable signal readouts such as photometry, reflectometry, luminescence, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, or ellipsometry. The quantification of BAs in real food samples and the design of the sensors are highlighted and the analytical figures of merit are compared. Future instrumental trends for BA sensing point to the use of cell phone–based fully automated optical evaluation and devices that could even comprise microfluidic micro total analysis systems.

Decarboxylation of amino acids by bacteria results in the production of biogenic amines (BAs) in various foods. Several factors including the manufacturing process, hygiene of raw materials, processing conditions, and the duration of storage influence the amount of BAs in various food products. No harmful effect on human health has been found by the low intake of BAs. Biogenic amines could cause problems, however, if present in a higher amount in foods and the detoxification ability of the body is inhibited or disturbed. Regulating the activity of decarboxylases on amino acids can be vital to control the concentration of BAs in foods. Levels of BAs can be limited by numerous methods such as packaging, additives, hydrostatic pressure, irradiation, pasteurization, smoking, and temperature. This chapter presents a comprehensive report on the occurrence, chemistry, distribution, toxicity, safety regulations, measurement techniques and future prospects of the BAs in foods. The objective of this chapter was to gather, summarize, and discuss useful data and or necessary information based on previous studies in terms of presence and toxicity of BAs in various foods.

The importance of biogenic amines is well reported in various foods, particularly in fermented foods. Biogenic amines include those biomolecules that often cause food intolerance in susceptible individuals. The formation of biogenic amines in food depends on the amount of free amino acids present as precursors and the activity of the amino acid decarboxylase. Fermented foods are particularly at risk as regards the biogenic amine content. Biogenic amines are important for both food safety and food quality perspective. Histamine, tyramine, cadaverine and putrescine are the main amines associated with spoilage in food. Histamine poisoning caused by fish consumption is one of the main food safety problems worldwide. Recently, numerous experiments have been carried out both in food science and in the food industry to reduce the biogenic amine content of foods. These methods include using selected starter cultures, application of hydrostatic pressure, irradiation and so on. More and more modern methods are available to determine biogenic amines in fish and fish products.

A review: Current analytical methods for the determination of biogenic amines in foods

Chapter 10 - Lactic acid bacteria and biogenic amines in food: Biological importance and human health

Biogenic amines (BAs) are formed as a result of specific free amino acid decarboxylation. Analysis of these metabolites may be of great importance to determine food quality and for monitoring the levels of biogenic amines such as histamine and tyramine related to intoxication episodes in humans. Chromatography is a chemistry separation technique used to characterize biogenic amines in foods. Variations of this technique (liquid, thin layer and gas chromatography) have been widely applied; however, the food matrix complex requires that changes in the methodology of extraction, derivatization and detection must be performed according to each group of foods. High-performance liquid chromatography is the most widely used chromatographic method applied for biogenic amines in foods. However, due to the current importance of biogenic amines in quality control and consumer safety, researchers try to develop new methods for a fast, reliable analysis of foods in the market. This review presents some chromatographic techniques applied to monitoring BAs in different foods of animal origin.

IntroductionBiogenic amines (BAs) are known as toxic substances and formed in foods as a result of microbial action during fermentation and storage (Shalaby, 1996;Santos, 1996).BAs could cause diseases with food poisoning symptoms such as stimulating the nerves and blood vessels in man and animals (Joosten, 1988).The most important BAs found in foods are putrescine, cadaverine, β-phenylethylamine, tyramine, spermine, histamine, spermidine, tryptamine and agmatine.BAs exist in fish, meat, egg, cheeses, vegetables, soybean, beer, wine, etc., and their products.BAs are also known as possible precursors of carcinogens, such as N-nitrosamines (Shalaby, 1996;Santos, 1996).They are frequently found in high concentrations in foods and can not be reduced by high-temperature treatment (Shalaby, 1996;Santos, 1996).BAs in food are extensively studied; a lot of information on formation and occurrence of the biogenic amines in foods is given in recent reviews (Davidek & Davidek, 1995;Halasz et al., 1994;Santos, 1996;Stratton et al., 1991;Suzzi & Gardini, 2003).There are various kinds of soy products such as soybean paste, soy sauce, soy milk and soy curd, in which biogenic amines can be analyzed.Major sources of biogenic amines in the soy foods include: fermented/non-fermented foods such as soy sauce, Miso and Tofu.Nutritionally, soybean milk, Tofu and Sufu have the same importance to people of Asia as they prefer the salt-coagulated bean curd, not only because it has the desired texture, but also because it serves as an important source of calcium (Wang & Hesseltine, 1970).BAs are formed in fermented soybean products by microorganisms during fermentation, and high levels of BAs have been reported for soy products (Chin & Koehler, 1983;Mower & Bhagavan, 1989;Nout et al., 1993;Stratton et al., 1991;Yen, 1986).As the microbial spoilage of food may be accompanied by the increased production of decarboxylases, the presence of biogenic amines might serve as a useful indicator of food spoilage.For these reasons, it is important to monitor biogenic amines levels in foods.Soy sauce, a Chinese traditional fermented condiment, is made from soybean and wheat flour.During the manufacturing process of soy sauce, soy sauce is traditionally prepared by growing the koji mold such as Aspergillus oryzae (A.oryzae) or Aspergillus sojae (A.sojae) on the raw material containing a mixture of steam-cooked defatted soybean and roasted wheat flour.Soy sauce mash obtained by mixing the finished koji with brine solution is then subjected to various periods of ageing (Whitaker, 1978).During the fermentation of soy sauce, proteins in the raw materials are hydrolyzed into small molecular weight peptides, amino acids and ammonia www.intechopen.com

Biogenic amines (BAs) are organic nitrogenous compounds, formed mostly by decarboxylation of corresponding amino acids. BAs are responsible for several biological events. However, if the concentration of BAs reached the threshold level, it causes mild to serious health problems in human. The objective of this manuscript was to summarize the prevalence and prevention of Bas formation, detection methods and factors affecting the BAs formation in fermented fish and meat products. Meat sausages are the fermented meat product that contains high BAs. Fish sauces are reported to have high BAs compared to other fish products. Several chemosensors and chromatography methods are available to screen and detect BAs in foods. The prevention measures are vital to avoid toxic outbreaks. The use of starter culture, application of physical factors, control of environmental factors, and use of polyphenols could prevent or diminish the formation of BAs in fermented foods. The literature survey warrants that the development of potent starter with desirable characters, maintenance of hygienic food production and regular monitoring of commercial products are necessary to ensure the quality and safety of fermented fish and meat product.

Biogenic amines (BAs) are molecules, which can be present in foods and, due to their toxicity, can cause adverse effects on the consumers. BAs are generally produced by microbial decarboxylation of amino acids in food products. The most significant BAs occurring in foods are histamine, tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine, tryptamine, 2-phenylethylamine, spermine, spermidine, and agmatine. The importance of preventing the excessive accumulation of BAs in foods is related to their impact on human health and food quality. Quality criteria in connection with the presence of BAs in food and food products are necessary from a toxicological point of view. This is particularly important in fermented foods in which the massive microbial proliferation required for obtaining specific products is often relater with BAs accumulation. In this review, up-to-date information and recent discoveries about technological factors affecting BA content in foods are reviewed. Specifically, BA forming-microorganism and decarboxylation activity, genetic and metabolic organization of decarboxylases, risk associated to BAs (histamine, tyramine toxicity, and other BAs), environmental factors influencing BA formation (temperature, salt concentration, and pH). In addition, the technological factors for controlling BA production (use of starter culture, technological additives, effects of packaging, other non-thermal treatments, metabolizing BA by microorganisms, effects of pressure treatments on BA formation and antimicrobial substances) are addressed.

Electrospun nanofibers (ENFs) are promising materials for rapid diagnostic tests like lateral flow assays and dipsticks because they offer an immense surface area while excluding minimal volume, a variety of functional surface groups, and can entrap functional additives within their interior. Here, we show that ENFs on sample pads are superior in comparison to standard polymer membranes for the optical detection of biogenic amines (BAs) in food using a dipstick format. Specifically, cellulose acetate (CA) fibers doped with 2mg/mL of the chromogenic and fluorogenic amine-reactive chameleon dye Py-1 were electrospun into uniform anionic mats. Those extract cationic BAs from real samples and Py-1 transduces BA concentrations into a change of color, reflectance, and fluorescence. Dropping a BA sample onto the nanofiber mat converts the weakly fluorescent pyrylium dye Py-1 into a strongly red emitting pyridinium dye. For the first time, a simple UV lamp excites fluorescence and a digital camera acts as detector. The intensity ratio of the red to the blue channel of the digital image is dependent on the concentration of most relevant BAs indicating food spoilage from 10 to 250μM. This matches the permitted limits for BAs in foods and no false positive signals arise from secondary and tertiary amines. BA detection in seafood samples was also demonstrated successfully. The nanofiber mat dipsticks were up to sixfold more sensitive than those using a polymer membrane with the same dye embedded. Hence, nanofiber-based tests are not only superior to polymer-based dipstick assays, but will also improve the performance of established tests related to food safety, medical diagnostics, and environmental testing. Graphical Absract ᅟ.