title: Chemical characterisation and histamine-forming bacteria in salted mullet roe products.
abstract: Sixteen salted mullet roe products sold in the retail markets in Taiwan were purchased and tested to determine the occurrence of histamine and histamine-forming bacteria. The levels of pH, salt content, water content, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) and aerobic plate count (APC) in all samples ranged from 5.4 to 5.8, 5.1% to 7.2%, 15.4% to 27.3%, 32.0 to 69.6mg/100g and <1.0 to 7.1logCFU/g, respectively. None of these samples contained total coliform and Escherichia coli. The average content of each of the nine biogenic amines in all samples was less than 4mg/100g, and only one mullet roe sample had the histamine content (8.18mg/100g) greater than the 5.0mg/100g allowable limit suggested by the US Food and Drug Administration. Two histamine-producing bacterial strains capable of producing 10.7ppm and 9.6ppm of histamine in trypticase soy broth (TSB) supplemented with 1.0% l-histidine (TSBH) were identified as Staphylococcus carnosus by 16S rDNA sequencing with PCR amplification, and they were isolated from the sample with higher histamine content (8.18mg/100g).
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Technology, Tajen University, Pingtung, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Food Science, National Pintung of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Hsien-Feng
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Kung
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Keelung, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Liang-Tan
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, China Institute of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Hsuan-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Yuanpei University, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chung-Saint
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, National Pintung of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Ean-Tun
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Liaw
authors.affiliation: Department of Seafood Science, National Kaohsiung Marine University, No. 142, Hai-Chuan Road, Nan-Tzu, Kaohsiung 811, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Wen-Chieh
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Seafood Science, National Kaohsiung Marine University, No. 142, Hai-Chuan Road, Nan-Tzu, Kaohsiung 811, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: yht@mail.tajen.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yung-Hsiang
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Tsai
keywords: 16S rDNA; Histamine; Histamine-forming bacteria; Salted mullet roe product; Staphylococcus carnosus