ABSTRACT
Food-fermenting lactic acid bacteria are generally considered to be non-toxic and non-pathogenic (Chapters 7-16, in this book). Some species of lactic acid bacteria, however, can produce biogenic amines (BAs). BAs (i.e., tryptamine, 2-phenylethylamine, tyramine, histamine, putrescine, cadaverine, spermine and spermidine) are formed in food by microbial decarboxylation of the corresponding amino acids or by transamination of aldehydes and ketones (Brink et al. 1990, Maijala and Nurmi 1995, Zolou et al. 2003). Though they are produced naturally by plants, animals, and microorganisms, yet their consumption in the form of foods can have toxicological consequences. Exogenous BAs are most frequently found in fermented foods such as wines, beers, dairy products, meat and vegetables that are rich in protein content. BAs are also known to be the causal agents of a number of food
1 Department of Botany, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar-751004, Odisha, India. E-mail: leepisri@gmail.com 2 Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg,
P. O. Box 17011, Doornfontein Campus, Johannesburg, South Africa. E-mail: sandeeppanda2212@gmail.com; sandeepp@uj.ac.za 3 Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition,
Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, GR-11855 Athens, Greece. E-mail: sdp@aua.gr 4 University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. E-mail: nzdolec@vef.hr 5 ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (regional Centre), Bhubaneswar 751019, India. E-mail: rc.ray666@gmail.com * All authors contributed equally for this chapter.
