EUROPEAN FOOD RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, cilt.235, sa.4, ss.669-683, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
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.