Abstract of research

Histamine as a quality parameter in marine fish

Mohamed Ahmed Hassan1, Nessrine Zakareya Aelywah2, Fatma Hussien Ali2

Abstract

Histamine is a member of a group of compounds known as biogenic amines; Biogenic amines are biologically active compounds normally produced by decarboxylation of free amino acids and are present in a variety of foods, eg fish, fish products, meat, cheese and fermented foods. The presence of biogenic amines in these foods is an indicator of food spoilage. Histamine content is an essential quality parameter in sea food quality. In the present study a total of 90 random samples of fresh fishes represented by Pagrus, Barboni and Sardine (30 of each) were collected at different times from various fish markets in Gharbia governorate, Egypt, and examined for the presence of histamine by ELISA. The results revealed that 36.7%were acceptable and 63.3% non-acceptable for Sardine, 53.3% were acceptable while 46.7% nonacceptable for Barboni and 66.7% were acceptable and 33.3% non-acceptable for Pagrus.