DETERMINATION OF HISTAMINE LEVELS IN CANNED TUNA FISH

A. B. Oktem, S. Y. Bas, B. Er, G. Yentur, B. Demirhan

Abstract: The presence of biogenic amines in foods is a chemical indication of food spoilage. Therefore, monitoring of biogenic amines levels in food and food products is important. In this study, total number of 80 canned tuna fish samples of four different brands (A, B, C, D) collected from Ankara local markets, Turkey were analyzed for histamine and pH value. Extraction and determination of histamine in all samples were made by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) procedure. Positive samples were reanalyzed by capillary zone electrophoresis technique with diode array detection (CZE-DAD). The mean levels (±S.D) of histamine were found to be 10.97±9.86 mg kg-1 in fish samples by using ELISA. The levels of four samples were determined by capillary zone electrophoresis technique. However, other four positive samples were below limit of quantitation value (5.18 mg kg-1). Our data revealed that eight (10.0%) of canned tuna fish samples were positive for histamine. The mean levels in positive samples were within the Turkish Food Codex (TFC) values (200-400 mg kg-1). This study indicated that some canned fish sold in Ankara, contains histamine, however, these levels were within allowed limits. The pH values of samples were within the Turkish Standard Institute (TSI) values (4.0-6.9). The mean pH values (±SE) of the samples for the A, B, C and D brands were determined to be 5.89 ± 0.02, 5.86 ± 0.01, 5.83 ± 0.02 and 5.82 ± 0.02, respectively.

Keywords: biogenic amine; canned tuna fish; capillary zone electrophoresis; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; histamine

Date published: 2017-10-09