**3. Factors that affect the content of bioactive amines in foods**

Fresh fruits and vegetables contain BAs as endogenous components and, due to uncontrolled microbial enzymatic activity, they can be accumulated during storage or even after some type of post-harvest processing [8, 28]. Amines are generally not destroyed during thermal processing, using high temperature, or during storage. Often there may be an increase in content due to the ease of extracting amines from food after cooking or in overripe fruits, due to cell wall degradation, making these molecules more available [7, 8]. These data point out the importance of detecting these compounds in different food matrices for a better understanding of the amino acid profile in fresh and processed products [8, 29].

The levels of spermidine and spermine in plant-food vary depending on the physiological stage, the cultivation method and the type of thermal processing. In bananas, during the fruit ripening process, there was an accumulation of putrescine, mainly in plantains. High levels of spermidine and spermine have been found in some genotypes of plantains (**Table 1**) [8]. Besides the differences between genotypes of the same species, the BAs contents are also modified by thermal processing in colored cauliflowers [7], which often provides increased palatability, digestibility and flavor [30] (**Table 1**). The lowest levels of spd and spm were found in cauliflower 'Grafitti', although all other genotypes analyzed ('Verdi de Maceratta', 'Cheddar' and 'Foratta') showed an increase with cooking (boiling, steaming or microwaving) (**Table 1**). This effect is due to the ease of extracting the compounds by softening the cell wall; however, this same beneficial effect may induce losses to cooking water due to the hygroscopicity of BAs and other antioxidant compounds, such as polyphenols. In colored green beans, boiling induced increased levels of BAs, and steaming maintained the lowest levels [30].

The processing temperature is an important measure to prevent or inhibit the formation of BAs in foods [31]. Heat treatment, such as cooking and pasteurization, can reduce the content of BAs in foods [31], recommending methods for reducing bioactive amines in mushrooms. For example, the pasteurized pickled and sterilized natural marinade of white button mushrooms showed substantially lower amounts of Spd compared to the unprocessed product (**Table 1**) [32]. The high temperature used in the processing contributes to the reduction of the microflora contained in the food, which is involved in the production of BAs [31], even though they are considered heat stable and are not destroyed by cooking, baking or even canning [33]. BAs are produced by mesophilic bacteria, especially at temperatures ranging from 20 to 37°C and, therefore, unprocessed and untreated mushrooms should preferably be stored under refrigeration conditions to avoid the accumulation amines, which can cause some type of toxicity to the human organism in excess [31]. Initial studies showed that intact fruit bodies of *Agaricus bisporas* stored for 48 h at 6°C did not exhibit the presence of Put and Cad, but when stored at room temperature (20°C) the levels of these amines increased significantly [34]. However, no amounts of Cad and Put were detected (only one of the three samples tested) after storage of mushrooms at room temperature [32]. These authors point out that the method of handling mushroom fruit bodies during harvest and after technological processing significantly influences the content of these amines during storage. Mechanical bruises caused by poor handling on soft mushroom tissues, during harvest and technological processing, can accelerate the activity of decarboxylating bacteria causing the synthesis and/or the accumulation of BAs [35].

**5**

**Food** **Fermented** Mushrooms raw (mg/kg f.w.)

**DOP**

—

—

—

nd

nd

462.0–716.7

470.2–1129.3

nd

[32]

Mushrooms pickled, pasteurized

(mg/kg f.w.)

Mushrooms marinade, sterilized

—

—

nd

nd

38.0–141.6

247.5–264.9

nd–34.19

[32]

(mg/kg f.w.)

Mushrooms 48 h storage, 6°C

—

—

—

—

nd

—

—

[34]

(mg/kg d.w.)

Mushrooms 48 h storage, 20°C

—

—

—

—

368.0

—

—

[34]

(mg/kg d.w.)

Jurubeba picked (vinegar), after

—

—

8.5–75.3

33.9–105.7

255.7–582.3

95.7–323.2

4.9–6.8

[14]

1 h (mg/kg f.w.)

Jurubeba picked (vinegar) after

—

—

0.1–59.6

1.6–59.8

208.3–537.1

0.4–93.1

0.2–21.4

[14]

90 days (mg/kg f.w.)

Fermented fish product (fish

—

—

45–1220

nd–42

2.0–243

nd–98

nd–121

[48]

sauce) (ppm)

Kimchi (green onion and

—

—

8.7–386.0

nd–181.1

nd–254.5

2.3–28.5

nd–58.6

[53]

mustard leaf) (mg/kg f.w.)

Sauerkraut samples (mg/kg f.w.)

Sauerkraut, after 12 months

Sauerkraut (mg/kg f.w.)

Fermented pickles (*L. plantarum*

isolates) (mg/L f.w.)

Soft tofu (mg/kg f.w.)

Firm tofu (mg/kg f.w.)

—

—

—

nd–65.3

nd–179.7

nd–306.2

nd–73.1

—

[60]

—

nd–21.8

nd–7.2

15.9–42.5

nd–23.8

—

[60]

—

—

—

—

—

nd–668

—

nd–994

—

—

[58]

—

37.0

60.7

108.9

10.9

1.2

[56]

—

nd

168–570

63.7–216

8.3–12.5

nd–8.6

[55]

—

nd–229

nd–951

2.8–529

nd–47.0

—

[54]

—

nd

nd

nd–53.4

1686–2714.

nd

[32]

**SER**

**HIS**

**TYR**

**PUT**

**SPD**

**SPM**

**Citation**

**Range of bioactive amine**

*The Increase of Amines Content in the Intake of a Vegan Diet*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94095*


#### *The Increase of Amines Content in the Intake of a Vegan Diet DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94095*

*Veganism - a Fashion Trend or Food as a Medicine*

acid profile in fresh and processed products [8, 29].

can increase longevity.

health, in addition to the fact that diets with adequate levels of these polyamines

Fresh fruits and vegetables contain BAs as endogenous components and, due to uncontrolled microbial enzymatic activity, they can be accumulated during storage or even after some type of post-harvest processing [8, 28]. Amines are generally not destroyed during thermal processing, using high temperature, or during storage. Often there may be an increase in content due to the ease of extracting amines from food after cooking or in overripe fruits, due to cell wall degradation, making these molecules more available [7, 8]. These data point out the importance of detecting these compounds in different food matrices for a better understanding of the amino

The levels of spermidine and spermine in plant-food vary depending on the physiological stage, the cultivation method and the type of thermal processing. In bananas, during the fruit ripening process, there was an accumulation of putrescine, mainly in plantains. High levels of spermidine and spermine have been found in some genotypes of plantains (**Table 1**) [8]. Besides the differences between genotypes of the same species, the BAs contents are also modified by thermal processing in colored cauliflowers [7], which often provides increased palatability, digestibility and flavor [30] (**Table 1**). The lowest levels of spd and spm were found in cauliflower 'Grafitti', although all other genotypes analyzed ('Verdi de Maceratta', 'Cheddar' and 'Foratta') showed an increase with cooking (boiling, steaming or microwaving) (**Table 1**). This effect is due to the ease of extracting the compounds by softening the cell wall; however, this same beneficial effect may induce losses to cooking water due to the hygroscopicity of BAs and other antioxidant compounds, such as polyphenols. In colored green beans, boiling induced

increased levels of BAs, and steaming maintained the lowest levels [30].

The processing temperature is an important measure to prevent or inhibit the formation of BAs in foods [31]. Heat treatment, such as cooking and pasteurization, can reduce the content of BAs in foods [31], recommending methods for reducing bioactive amines in mushrooms. For example, the pasteurized pickled and sterilized natural marinade of white button mushrooms showed substantially lower amounts of Spd compared to the unprocessed product (**Table 1**) [32]. The high temperature used in the processing contributes to the reduction of the microflora contained in the food, which is involved in the production of BAs [31], even though they are considered heat stable and are not destroyed by cooking, baking or even canning [33]. BAs are produced by mesophilic bacteria, especially at temperatures ranging from 20 to 37°C and, therefore, unprocessed and untreated mushrooms should preferably be stored under refrigeration conditions to avoid the accumulation amines, which can cause some type of toxicity to the human organism in excess [31]. Initial studies showed that intact fruit bodies of *Agaricus bisporas* stored for 48 h at 6°C did not exhibit the presence of Put and Cad, but when stored at room temperature (20°C) the levels of these amines increased significantly [34]. However, no amounts of Cad and Put were detected (only one of the three samples tested) after storage of mushrooms at room temperature [32]. These authors point out that the method of handling mushroom fruit bodies during harvest and after technological processing significantly influences the content of these amines during storage. Mechanical bruises caused by poor handling on soft mushroom tissues, during harvest and technological processing, can accelerate the activity of decarboxylating bacteria causing the synthesis and/or the accumulation of BAs [35].

**3. Factors that affect the content of bioactive amines in foods**

**4**


**7**

**Food** **DOP**

—

—

432.09

—

—

—

—

[44]

Canned apples, 12 month after production (mg/kg f.w.)

Green beans cooked (mg/100 g

—

nd

nd

nd

1.35–7.75

1.35–7.75

0.29–2.83

[30]

f.w.)

Brocolli raw (μg/100 g f.w.)

Spinach raw (μg/100 g f.w.)

Asparagus raw (μg/100 g f.w.)

*fresh weight: f.w.; dry weight: d.w.; nd: not identificad.*

**Table 1.**

*Bioactive amine content in food.*

—

—

—

55.0

—

—

—

—

—

[36]

19.0

—

—

—

—

—

[36]

17.0

—

—

—

—

—

**SER**

**HIS**

**TYR**

**PUT**

**SPD**

**SPM**

**Citation**

**Range of bioactive amine**

*The Increase of Amines Content in the Intake of a Vegan Diet*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94095*

[36]

#### *The Increase of Amines Content in the Intake of a Vegan Diet DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94095*

*Veganism - a Fashion Trend or Food as a Medicine*

**6**

**Food** **DOP**

—

—

nd–32.40

nd–384.0

4.0–260.0

nd–28.3

—

[54]

Household sauerkraut (mg/kg

f.w.) Sterilized

sauerkraut (mg/kg f.w.)

**Fruits and vegetables**

Banana raw pulp (green, stg 2)

26.8–38.1

7.9–20.3

6.9–7.4

8.9–10.3

13.9–21.4

16.0–19.0

13.8–14.8

[8]

(mg/100 g d.w.)

Banana raw pulp (ripe, stg 5)

26.7–34.4

7.5–13.7

6.8–8.6

9.1–9.6

17.4–27.1

15.8–17.5

13.5–14.2

[8]

(mg/100 g d.w.)

Kiwi raw (μg/100 g f.w.)

Banana raw peel (mg/100 g d.w.)

Plantain raw pulp (mg/100 g

d.w.)

Plantain raw peel (mg/100 g d.w.)

Banana and plantain cooked

(mg/100 g d.w.)

Tomato raw (μg/100 g f.w.)

Cauliflower raw (μg/100 g d.w.)

Cauliflower raw (μg/100 g f.w.)

Cauliflower cooked, 5 min

(μg/100 g d.w.)

Cauliflower cooked, 10 min

0.02–0.28

0.70–4.3

0.12–0.71

—

0.78–12.0

1.20–37.4

0.55–8.2

[7]

(pg/100 g d.w.)

Green beans (mg/100 g f.w.)

Canned apples, 1 month after

production (mg/kg f.w.)

—

—

—

165.86

—

—

—

—

[44]

nd

nd

nd

1.48–7.78

1.27–7.36

0.20–2.01

[30]

8.0–42.0

—

0.02–0.35

0.73–3.0

0.10–0.65

—

23.0

—

—

—

0.71–8.08

—

0.63–27.7

0.32–7.6

[7]

—

[36]

45–203.0

4.0–46.0

—

—

881.0–1244

—

—

—

34–358.0

—

52.0–460.0

13.0–85.0

[7]

—

[36]

82.1–642.7

28.0–59.5

10.3–15.1

7.4–7.8

9.2–9.6

32.4–67.1

18.0–23.9

13.8–14.5

[8]

8.2–104.8

66.3–257.8

9.5–18.6

15.5–41.3

14.5–21.3

13.2–66.6

[8]

32.7–305.5

27.7–33.7

8.9–15.5

6.8–7.2

9.2–10.0

14.7–63.6

15.7–18.6

13.5–14.4

[8]

8.2–74.3

11.8–118.3

9.2–14.0

16.5–25.0

—

952.0

—

—

—

—

15.0–23.6

15.1–31.0

[8]

—

[36]

—

—

nd–26.4

26.3–345.0

18.4–359.00

nd–15.2

—

[54]

**SER**

**HIS**

**TYR**

**PUT**

**SPD**

**SPM**

**Citation**

**Range of bioactive amine**


**Table 1.**

*Bioactive amine content in food.*
