Biogenic Amines in Dairy Products: Origin, Incidence, and Control Means

Abstract

Biogenic amines (BAs) are toxic compounds produced by a number of microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts, and molds) as a result of the metabolism of some amino acid, usually decarboxylation reactions. BA-producing microorganisms are not necessarily pathogenic, such as lactic acid bacteria, which are, on the contrary, among the most beneficial microbiota to human beings and some of which even have probiotic properties. However, the incidence of BAs in dairy products and their possible implication in serious dairy-borne intoxications has long been overlooked. Consequently, the implementation of control measures to limit such an incidence has not been considered among the priorities of the food safety authorities. Nonetheless, there is a growing concern with regard to the presence of BAs in dairy products, because their toxicological status as toxins that may have serious acute and/or chronic adverse health effects is becoming increasingly evident and well-documented. The main BAs associated with dairy products are reviewed herein from the perspective of their incidence in these food products, and to draw the attention of readers to the shortage in data to perform pertinent risk assessment, which is considered to be a key action to provide efficient control means and to help decision makers issue appropriate legislative and regulatory measures.

The range of protein hydrolysis and biogenic amines content in selected acid- and rennet-curd cheeses

“…Indeed, water activity in cheese decreases when content of fat increases. Parallel to the growth of fat content in cheeses, the water activity of the product is falling which inhibits proteolytic bacteria and reduces accessibility of free amino acids for bioamine formation (Benkerroum 2016). Although, from the other hand, the oxidation of fat can lead to aldehydes and ketones formation (Li et al 2013) which, through amination and/or transamination, can form biogenic amines (Benkerroum 2016).…”

“…They can evoke cardiovascular, digestive, and breathing systems diseases, show pro-cancerogenic activity, and sometimes favour very specific diseases, such as schizophrenic depression, Reyes’ syndrome, and Parkinson’s disease. (Karovičová and Kohajdová 2005, European Food Safety Authority 2011, Benkerroum 2016). There were consumption thresholds proposed for fish and other foodstuff: for histamine 50–200 mg kg −1 of foodstuff.…”

Evaluating the Safety of Potential Probiotic Enterococcus durans KLDS6.0930 Using Whole Genome Sequencing and Oral Toxicity Study

“…The second pathway is the conversion of arginine into citrulline and followed by catalysis to ornithine via arginine deiminase (ADI) and ornithine carbamoyl transferase (OCT). LIU_RS09825 and LIU_RS09820 encode these two enzymes, respectively, which indirectly catalyze the biosynthesis of ornithine accompanied by the generation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) (Benkerroum, 2016). However, no genes encoding any of the enzymes for polyamine biosynthesis, except methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT), were found in the genome of E. durans KLDS6.0930.…”

“…Genes for biogenic amine production were generally absent based on the genomic data of E. durans KLDS6.0930, except those encoding tyramine. Tyramine, phenylethylamine, histamine, tryptamine, and cadaverine are directly catalyzed by amino acid decarboxylases from their respective precursor amino acids (Benkerroum, 2016). Two non-homologous TDC-coding genes were found in the E. durans KLDS6.0930 genome.…”

“…However, E. durans KLDS6.0930 was not found to encode any of the genes related to phenethylamine. A previous study showed that a decarboxylase can decarboxylate different structural homologs (Benkerroum, 2016). Here, the TDC of Enterococcus can accept tyrosine and phenylalanine as substrates (Marcobal et al, 2006, 2012; EFSA, 2011), as they are aromatic amino acids with similar structures.…”