Contents of polyamines in selected foods

Dietary polyamines, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, participate in many biochemical processes, mainly in cell proliferation and differentiation. Polyamines were determined as N-benzamides by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography in 153 samples of 21 foods, mostly culinary processed. Very low putrescine contents were observed in processed meats, pork liver and kidney, while the highest mean contents exceeded 55 mg kg(-1) in stewed green pea, grapefruit and fresh green pepper. Higher spermine than spermidine contents were typical for foods of animal origin, while the opposite was observed in plant products. Mean spermidine contents, exceeding 20 mg kg(-1), were found in dry soybean, stewed green pea, yellow pea puree and roasted chicken breast. Roasted chicken breast, stewed pork kidney, roasted pork liver and roasted pork neck had mean spermine contents above the same level. Polyamine content varies widely within individual food items, what makes application of the results by dietitians rather difficult. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.