Bacteria with amine oxidase activity have become a particular interest to reduce biogenic amines concentration in food products such as meat and fish sausages. However, little information is available regarding the application of these bacteria in fish sauce. Hence, our study was aimed to investigate the effect of such starter cultures in reducing biogenic amines accumulation during fish sauce fermentation. Staphylococcus carnosus FS19 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FS05 isolated from fish sauce which possess amine oxidase activity were used as starter cultures in this study. Fermentation was held for 120 days at 35 °C. The pH value increased in all samples, while salt concentration remained constant throughout fermentation. Aerobic bacteria count was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the control than in inoculated samples as a result of starter cultures addition. However, it decreased during fermentation due to the growth inhibition by high salt concentration. Proteolytic bacterial count decreased during fermentation with no significant difference (p > 0.05) among samples. These bacteria hydrolyzed protein in anchovy to produce free amino acid precursors for amines formation by decarboxylase bacteria. The presence of biogenic amines producing bacteria in this study was considered to be indigenous from raw material or contamination during fermentation, since our cultures were negative histamine producers. Amino acid histidine, arginine, lysine and tyrosine concentration decreased at different rates during fermentation as they were converted into their respective amines. In general, biogenic amines concentration namely histamine, putrescine, cadaverine and tyramine increased throughout fermentation. However, their concentrations were markedly higher (p < 0.05) in the control (without starter cultures) as compared to the samples treated with starter cultures. Histamine concentration was reduced by 27.7% and 15.4% by Staphylococcus carnosus FS19 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FS05, respectively. Both cultures could also reduce other amines during fermentation. After 120 days of fermentation, the overall biogenic amines concentration was 15.9% and 12.5% less in samples inoculated with Staphylococcus carnosus FS19 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FS05, respectively, as compared to control samples. These findings emphasized that application of starter cultures with amines oxidase activity in fish sauce fermentation was found to be effective in reducing biogenic amines accumulation.

Zaman M.Z., Bakar F.A., Selamat J., Bakar J.. (2010): Occurrence of biogenic amines and amines degrading bacteria in fish sauce. Czech J. Food Sci., 28: 440-449.The contents of biogenic amines histamine, putrescine, and cadaverine in fish sauce were determined and the bacteria isolated from the samples were evaluated for their amines degradation activity. Five fish sauce samples contained 62.5-393.3 ppm of histamine, 5.6-242.8 ppm of putrescine, and 187.1-704.7 ppm of cadaverine. Thirty three bacterial isolates produced all three amines, seven isolates produced one or two amines, and one isolate did not produce any amine in differential agar media. Since the strains that produced amines were not supposed to degrade them, only eight isolates were further identified and evaluated for their amines degrading capability. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FS-05 and Staphylococcus carnosus FS-19 degraded histamine up to 59.9% and 29.1% from its initial concentration, respectively. Staphylococcus intermedius FS-20 and Bacillus subtilis FS-12 degraded putrescine and cadaverine up to 30.4% and 28.9%, respectively. Most isolates tolerated the salt concentration of up to 15% and temperature of up to 45°C. The current study provided new information on biogenic amines degrading bacteria, isolated from high-salt-content food products. The amines degradation activity of the bacteria is considered as strain rather than species specific.

Biogenic amines formation in Indian mackerel of tropical region was investigated during storage at ambient (25-29°C) and ice temperature (0°C) in relation with changes of amino acids content and amines forming bacteria. All amines increased significantly during storage at two temperatures except for spermidine and spermine. Histamine concentration of 363.5 ppm was detected after 16 h stored at ambient temperature. Aerobic plate count of fish stored at ambient temperature reached 6.98 log CFU g −1 after 16 h, close to the upper limit (7 log CFU g −1 ) suggested by International Commission on the Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF). However, proper icing procedure retarded the formation of histamine effectively, resulting only 8.31 ppm after 16 days of ice storage. Aerobic plate count of 5.99 and 7.72 log CFU g −1 were recorded for fish stored in ice after 16 days and ambient temperature after 20 h, respectively. Histamine exhibited high correlation with histidine (r 2 0 −0.963, P<0.01) as well as cadaverine with lysine (r 2 0 −0.750, P<0.05). However, tyramine-tyrosine demonstrated a weaker relationship (r 2 0 −0.138, P>0.05). As storage time progressed, the amines forming bacteria grew significantly except for that stored in ice.

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The profile of major biogenic amines was investigated in Indian mackerel packed in modified atmosphere for up to 12 days at 5 ± 1°C. Beheaded and gutted Indian mackerel was packed under different carbon dioxide compositions to study the effects on biogenic amines formation. The treatments were control air (C), vacuum packaging (VP), 30% CO2/65% N2/5% O2 (M30C), 60% CO2/35% N2/5% O2 (M60C), 80% CO2/15% N2/5% O2 (M80C) and 100% CO2 (M100C). Each amine responded differently to different CO2 levels. After 12 days of storage, concentrations of histamine were reduced by 6.4%, 8.5%, 70.3%, 78.8% and 90.2% in fish packed under VP, M30C, M60C, M80C and M100C, respectively as compared with control air. Changes in putrescine and cadaverine showed a similar pattern. Gas mix of M30C and VP stimulated the formation of tyramine reaching 203 and 172 ppm, respectively. Higher composition of CO2 had a significant inhibitory effect on tyramine concentration (p < 0.05). There were parallel increases of putrescine and spermidine in C, VP and M30C. No significant effect of CO2 was observed on spermine (p > 0.05). After 9 days of storage, more than 300 ppm of histamine was detected in mackerel packed in VP and M30C; therefore, these atmospheres pose a histamine intoxication risk. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.