New Method for Determining Histamine Rate in Halieutic Products

Abstract

This work focuses on the development of a new method that is a much more reliable and reproducible determination of histamine in fish products.

Although low-dose histamine plays a beneficial role in the nervous system as a neurotransmitter molecule, it is one of the leading causes of food poisoning due to fish in most countries. For example, in the United States, it comes second only to tobacco. In fact, histamine is highly toxic; the absorption of a certain amount of histamine can cause allergic reactions causing stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, headache, and itching. Thus the effects of absorption of histamine can be very serious for humans and lead to death. Most poisonings listed are linked to the consumption of certain fish species such as Scombridae (tuna, bonito, mackerel). However, the fish species of other families of healthy fish may be contaminated by microorganisms because of mishandling: First products safely and become the seat of a high concentration of histamine.

It is therefore imperative to measure the level of histamine in all fish products prior to export or import.

The best current method for determining histamine is the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). However, the Laboratory of Photochemistry and Analysis (LPA), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology have proposed a new method which is much more reliable and reproducible.

This work was published at the World Intellectual Protection Organization (WIPO) under No. WO 2006/018673 A1 since February 2006 with a deposit of European Patent No. B52105/EP.