Determination of Histamine Level and Its Correlation with Viable Bacterial Count in Cambodian Fermented Fish
2023 Volume 14 Issue 1 Pages 52-58
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2023 Volume 14 Issue 1 Pages 52-58
Nem trey (NT), Sangvak (SV) (minced fish), and Nem sbek chrouk (NC) (minced fish mixed with pork skin) are fermented fish products popular in Cambodia; NC and NT are ready for direct consumption after two or three days of fermentation, while SV must be additionally grilled before consuming. However, food safety standards for these products including control of biogenic amines such as histamine are neglected, which could pose a health problem. Biogenic amines are nitrogenous organic chemical compounds mainly produced from the decarboxylation of amino acid, histidine, by the activity of certain bacteria associated with fish products processed under poor hygiene and unstable temperature control. This study aimed to determine the histamine level in NT, SV, and NC products and studied its correlation with the viable bacterial count (BVC). Twenty-six samples, NT (n=12), SV (n=5), and NC (n=9), were collected from different producers from Battambang (BB) and Kratie (KT) provinces. A histamine test kit utilizing a colorimetric enzymatic assay, was used to determine histamine level. The BVC was done using the spread plate technique on Luria Bertani agar media incubated at 37oC for 24h. For KT province, NT and NC contained BVC (log10 CFU/g) in the range of 5.74±0.02 to 6.57±0.01 and 5.52±0.01 to 5.98±0.01, while histamine (mg/kg) ranged from 0 to 156.43±0.13 and 28.76±0.71 to 73.87±0.13, respectively. SV, NT, and NC from BB province contained the BVC (log10 CFU/g) ranging from 6.02±0.16 to 6.56±0.15, 5.97±0.15 to 6.04±0.15, and 5.69±1.18 to 6.12±0.11, while histamine (mg/kg) ranging from 6.10±0.44 to 54.52±0.00, 0 to 10.90±0.14, and 0 to 38.54±0.00, respectively. The BVC and histamine showed a significant correlation, with a value of 0.448 (p-value < 0.05). Therefore, raw materials, processing, and storage conditions along the production chain should be evaluated in further studies to ensure safety of the fermented fish products.
