Biogenic Amines: A Public Health Problem

Biogenic amines (BA) are toxic low molecular weight organic bases with aliphatic, aromatic or heterocyclic structures that can be found in several foods and are mainly produced by microbial decarboxylation of amino acids. The consumption of food containing large amounts of BA can result in allergic reactions, characterized by difficulties in breathing, rash, vomiting and hypertension. BA are also known as possible precursors of carcinogens such as N-nitrosamines. They are frequently found in high concentrations in food and cannot be reduced by high-temperature treatments, which makes difficult the use of conventional methods of food preservation for this purpose. Food irradiation is an alternative technology for their reduction because it can induce the formation of less toxic BA sub products by radiolysis.