Assessment of biogenic amine level from Cambodia fermented fish products

Food safety status has now been seen as a global concern as well as in Cambodia. Food allergies are one of the major problems, especially those caused by histamine. It is an important biogenic amine that can be found in fermented foods. This research study aimed to determine the biogenic amine levels and to isolate the histamine-producing bacteria in Cambodian fermented fish. A total of 20 samples of fermented fish products were randomly collected from four provinces in Cambodia, consisting of 11 samples of prahok (fish paste) and 9 samples of toeuk-trey (fish sauce). The histamine levels of seventeen samples and nine samples were lower than the Cambodian standard of 200 ppm and the standard FDA guideline of 50 ppm, respectively. The histamine-producing bacteria in prahok and toeuk-trey products were isolated and identified as Staphylococcus piscifermentans (five isolates), Kocuria krisinae (one isolate), Staphylococcus pasteuri (one isolate) and Staphylococcus warneri (one isolate). They were capable of producing 34.51 – 70.72 ppm of histamine contents in the culture broth. Therefore, the contamination of these histamine-producing bacteria could be related to the level of histamine. Thus, improper handling, processing and storage can be contributed to the cause of biogenic amines that could be hazardous in causing histamine poisoning.