Contamination biogenic amines

Air, water, soil, and food are all unavoidable components of the human environment. Each of those elements influences the quality of human life, and each of them may be contaminated. Food is not only the elementary source of nutrients, but may also contain natural chemical substances with toxic properties, e.g., cyanogenic glycosides (many plants), solanine (green parts of potatoes, sprouted potatoes, and potatoes stored in light), industrial pollutants (heavy metals), biogenic amines (fish), or mycotoxins (moldy foodstuffs). 

A number of criteria could be apphed to organize this chapter, depending on the point of view by which foods are considered. In this chapter, application of HPLC to food analysis will be described considering homogeneous classes of food components lipids, carbohydrates and related substances, proteins, peptides, amino acids, biogenic amines, phenolics, vitamins, and some selected contaminants. 

Biogenic amines can be found in processed meat products as a consequence of microbial activity related to the fermentation involved in their processing, but amines can be also found in poor-quality raw materials as a consequence of microbial contamination. Therefore the BA content in cooked meat (not fermented) products might serve as a useful indicator of the hygienic quality of the meat employed for its elaboration. However, this relationship for ripened meat products is rather complex, since the ability to produce BAs of the fermentative microflora need to be well known before limits can be set. According to the few studies performed on BAs in meat products,... 

In accordance with the enhanced microbial activity on the surface of botrytized grapes, botrytized wines contain more biogenic amines than normal wines. However, these values do not exceed those measured in red wines. Despite contamination of the infected berries by saprophytic fungi, the mycotoxin content of these wines is low—with only OTA being occasionally detected. At the amounts present, it is not a health concern. 

Grape and Wine Contaminants Ochratoxin A, Biogenic Amines, Trichloroanisole and Ethylphenols... 

The various contaminations in foods are due to the presence of compounds dangerous for consumer health or that affect organoleptic characteristics of the product. Ochratoxin A (OTA) and biogenic amines are dangerous for human health, and their legal limits are fixed in grape and wine. Due to their negative sensory properties and very low sensory thresholds, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole and ethylphenols have to be practically absent in wine, or present at as low a level as is possible. 

Flamini, R. and Larcher, R. (2008). Grape and Wine Contaminants Ochratoxin A, Biogenic Amines, Trichloroanisole and Ethylphenols, In Hyphenated... 

Marcus, S. Menda, A. Shore, L. Cohen, G. Atweh, E. Friedman, N. Karpas, Z., A novel method for the diagnosis of bacterial contamination in the anterior vagina of sows based on measurement of biogenic amines by ion mobility spectrometry a field trial, Theriogenology April 26, 2012 [Epub ahead of print]. 

Costantini, A., Vaudano, E., Del Prete, V., Danei, M., Garcia-Moruno, E. (2009). Biogenic amine production by contaminating bacteria found in starter preparations used in winemaking. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 57, 10664-10669. http //dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf902542. 

Primary fermentation with yeasts as well as malolactic fermentation, which is standard for most red wine production and for some white varieties such as chardonnay, have been associated with the occurrence of biogenic amines such as tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, and phenylethylamine in wine. Histamine can produce headaches and hypotension, whereas some aromatic amines such as tyramine and phenylethylamine can cause migraines and hypertension. The concentration and content of biogenic amines in wines are variable and depend on the storage time and conditions, quality of raw materials, and possible microbial contamination during the wine-making process [336]. 

Biogenic amines are formed from amino acids by the action of carboxy-lyases (decarboxylases containing as a cofactor pyridoxal 5 -phosphate), or arise from amino adds and carbonyl compounds by the action of transaminases (see Section 8.2.10.1.2). The so-called endogenous biogenic amines are the products of metabohsm and at low concentrations are natural components of almost aU foods. Exogenous biogenic amines are formed in foods as a result of microbial contamination and fermentation processes. 

Biogenic amines, including polyamines, also occur in beer, where they are produced by contaminating lactic acid bacteria. Their concentrations are as follows histamine <0.2-22 mg/kg, cadaverine <0.2-49 mg/kg, putrescine <0.3-31 mg/kg, spermidine <0.2-7mg/kg, spermine <0.2-15 mg/kg, agmatine 0.5-47mg/kg, phenethylamine <0.2-8 mg/kg, tyramine <0.3-68 mg/kg and tryptamine 0-10 mg/kg. 

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