Fluorometric Determination of Histamine in Cheese

Abstract

Thirty-one samples of cheese obtained from retail outlets were analyzed for histamine, using an official AOAC fluorometric method. The types of cheese analyzed and the ranges of histamine found were: colby, 0.3—2.8; camembert, 0 . 4 - 4 . 2 ; cheddar, 1.2-5.8; gouda, 1.3-2.4; provolone, 2.0-23.5; roquefort, 1.0-16.8; mozzarella 1.6-5.0; and Swiss, 0.4—250 mg histamine/ 100 g. Ten of the 12 samples of swiss cheese contained < 1 6 mg histamine/100 g. The remaining 2 samples which contained 116 and 250 mg histamine/lOO g were judged organoleptically to be of poor quality. An investigation of one processing facility showed that the production of histamine in swiss cheese may have been a result of a hydrogen peroxide/ low temperature treatment of the milk supply. Recovery of histamine added to methanol extracts of cheese ranged from 93 to 105%. Histamine content was confirmed by high pressure liquid chromatographic analysis of the methanol extracts.