Simple and Reliable Determination of the Histamine Content of Selected Greek Vegetables and Related Products in the Frame of “Low Histamine Diet”

Abstract

The determination of histamine in Greek foods that should potentially be avoided during a “low histamine diet” is reported herein. Cation exchange chromatography combined to selective post column derivatization proved to be an excellent tool for this type of analysis as well, offering accurate results following minimal sample preparation. Tomato-, eggplant- and spinach-related products have been successfully analyzed and were all found to contain histamine. Higher amounts were quantified in eggplants, eggplant salads and spinach in the range of 15.4–34.2 mg kg−1 and lower in fresh tomatoes and related products (0.8–10.6 mg kg−1). The method is capable of determining as low as 0.5 mg kg−1 histamine without matrix effects, with percent recoveries ranging between 87 and 112% (tomatoes and related products), 95 and 119% (eggplants and related products) and 90 and 106% (fresh and frozen spinach).

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“…Histamine reacts with o-phthalaldehyde under alkaline conditions, producing a fluorescent derivative that remains stable within the pH range of 2-4 where the fluorescent derivative can be quantitatively measured at λex/λem = 360/440 nm. In this study, the histamine detection method of Tsiasioti et al [38] was used, and a concentration-fluorescence standard curve was established for determining the histamine content.…”