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 salted and smoked fish products represented by fesiekh, salted Sardine, and smoked herring (30 of each) were collected at various periods of times from different fish markets in Gharbia governorate, Egypt. The collected samples were labeled and preserved individually in an insulated ice box as well as transferred to the laboratory as quickly as possible. The weight of each sample was varied from 100-150 g and examined for the presence of histamine by ELISA. The results revealed that 46.7 %were acceptable and 53.3 % non-acceptable for fesiekh, 73.3% were acceptable while 36.7% non-acceptable for Salted Sardine and 70 % were acceptable and 30 % non-acceptable for Smoked herring. |
