Occurrence of biogenic amines in sufu obtained from Chinese market.

This study aims at examining the level of biogenic amines (BAs) in different kinds of sufu commonly consumed in China. The correlation between different BAs and physical and chemical index in sufu samples was also investigated. The results proved that different processing technologies altered the distribution of BAs in commercial sufu. Total BA level was significantly correlated with salt content and pH. Some of the sufu samples in this survey contained higher levels of BAs, of which 26.6% of the samples might induce histamine poisoning, 15.6% might induce headache in virtue of phenylethylamine, and 23.4% might cause migraine and headache in virtue of tyramine. Moreover, 6.3% of the sufu samples with total BA content over 1000 mg/kg may be harmful to human health. From the food safety perspective, some sufu should not be excessively consumed daily and should be processed under strict sanitary conditions to decrease the BA level.