Biogenic amine contents of commercially processed traditional fish products originating from European countries and Turkey

In this study, 65 traditional fish samples, 35 of which originated from 11 European countries and 30 from Turkey were analysed for biogenic amines, water activity (a (w)), pH, %salt, %water phase salt, moisture contents and microbial counts in terms of food safety. In total, eleven samples contained histamine values between 70 and 1,544 mg/kg, which are over FDA permitted level of 50 mg/kg, four of which also exceeded EU and Turkish permitted limit of either 100 or 200 mg/kg. The highest histamine value was attributed to fish paste at 1,544 mg/kg and among other biogenic amines, the highest value was observed for cadaverine at 1,862 mg/kg represented by smoked bonito. Putrescine levels in most of the fermented samples were found to be high between 141 and 836 mg/kg. Some of the other highest levels of biogenic amines were phenylethylamine, tyramine and tryptamine at 219, 783 and 517 mg/kg, respectively. This study shows that although most products of traditional fish-processing types from these countries are safe for biogenic amine development, some are still lacking effective preventive actions. This situation suggests the awareness on seafood safety for such processing types.