Abstract
Biogenic amine content of cheese can be extremely variable and depends on the type of cheese, the ripening time and the manufacturing process. The amount of biogenic amines in cheese may act as a useful indicator of the hygienic quality of the product. One hundred and forty samples of different varieties of cheese represented as (Kareish, Damietta, Ras, Mish, Cheddar, Edam and Roquefort) 25 of each were collected from groceries, and supermarkets from different localities in Alexandria city for determination of Five biogenic amines including histamine, tyramine, cadaverine and putrescine and tryptamine by high performance liquid chromatography. The highest histamine mg/100 g levels were detected in the examined mish cheese followed by Ras cheese while, histamine failed to be detected in the examined Roquefort cheese. Tyramine level was detected in all examined cheese samples except Roquefort cheese and the percent of positive samples that exceeded the permissible limit of ES (2007) and FDA (2001) were 40 and 55%, respectively. All positive samples of Cheddar, Edam and Roquefort cheeses for cadaverine were within the ES (2007) permissible limit While, all positive samples of examined cheese samples were above the FDA (2001) permissible limit except Roquefort cheese. While, only one sample from of positive putrescine examined samples of Damietta, Cheddar and Edam cheese were above the permissible limit. All examined cheese samples were within the permissible limit of tryptamine level according to ES (2007) and FDA (2001)
Public health hazards of biogenic amines in different cheeses and suggestion to produce high quality cheese was discussed to come in accordance with the safe permissible limit to ensure human safety.