Real time quantitative PCR detection of histamine-producing lactic acid bacteria in cheese: Relation with histamine content

• Published in: Food research international Vol. 41; no. 10; pp. 1015 - 1019
• Main Authors: Ladero, Victor, Linares, Daniel M., Fernández, María, Alvarez, Miguel A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Amino acids; Biogenic amines; Biological and medical sciences; Cheese; Food industries; Food microbiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Histamine; Methods of analysis, processing and quality control, regulation, standards; RT-qPCR; Histamine; Cheese; Biogenic amines; RT-qPCR; Lactic acid bacteria; Dairy product; Real time; Polymerase chain reaction; Analysis method; Biogenic amine; Control method; Molecular biology; Detection
• ISSN: 0963-9969; 1873-7145
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2008.08.001

Biogenic amines (BAs) are low molecular weight organic bases with biological activity, mainly formed by the microbial decarboxylation of amino acids. The consumption of food containing large amounts of some BAs can have toxicological consequences. Histamine is the most active BA and the most frequently involved in food-borne intoxications. This article reports the concentrations of histamine found in 80 cheeses made from different types of milk and subjected to different ripening periods. Histamine was detected in 41.25% of the samples, with values ranging from 20 to over 1000 mg per Kg of cheese. The highest histamine concentrations were recorded in long ripening cheeses made from raw milk. The presence and quantification of histamine-producing lactic acid bacteria was determined by RT-qPCR, and a good association was obtained between the C t values and histamine concentrations determined by HPLC.