18 gennaio 2006

Histamine in wines and foodstuff

Histamine is an endogenous amine coming from the histidine aminoacid decarboxylation. It is a chemical mediator in a lot of biological processes and it is released after physical, chemical and immunological demands. Some food has
high histamine content: the consumption of fresh or canned fish as tuna, mackerel, sardines, anchovy, etc., could cause serious poisoning. Histamine concentration, in those ichthyic species, is the result of degradation processes by micro-organisms on the fish skin. In the muscle tissue these micro-organisms transform post-mortem the free histidine in histamine. Therefore high histamine level is considered an early indicator of decomposition.
The UE Commission Regulation N. 2073/2005 establishes that nine samples of each batch must be analyzed. The batch is compliant with the regulation if the histamine level is under 100 ppm or just one sample is in between 100 - 200 ppm. If only one sample is above 200 ppm the batch is non compliant. In case of products which have undergone enzyme maturation treatment in brine, the limits shift to 200 and 400 ppm.

Tecna has developed a new kit for the detection of histamine (cat. n. CI004) with a wide measuring range 1,85-150/185-15000 ppm) and very good correlation with HPLC method (r2=0,98). -

Histamine data sheet (63 kB)