Enzyme sensor array for the determination of biogenic amines

An enzyme sensor array for the simultaneous determination of three biogenic amines (histamine, tyramine and putrescine) using pattern recognition by an artificial neural network was applied to the measurement of sauerkraut samples. The sensor array took 20 minutes to complete. The measuring range for histamine and tyramine reached from 10 mg/kg to 200 mg/kg, and for putrescine from 5 mg/kg to 100 mg/kg. A mean correlation coefficient of 0.928 was determined by measuring the sauerkraut samples and comparing the results with liquid chromatography data. Biogenic amine concentrations in sauerkraut were higher for spontaneous fermentations as compared to the use of starter cultures. During lactic fermentation amine concentrations were highest in the mid-period (i.e. 11 days) of total time (21 days). In commercial canned sauerkraut higher amine contents were measured (sum of amines ranging from 103 to 235 mg/kg) than in the samples produced in a pilot plant (from 12 to 37 mg/kg).