A research team from the Andalusian Institute of Research and Training in Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Ecological Production (Ifapa) at the Alameda del Obispo center in Córdoba, in collaboration with the Walloon Agricultural Research Centre (CRA-W, Belgium), has developed a rapid method to detect and quantify histamine using mid-infrared technology. This allergen, which can be present in fish such as tuna, can be harmful depending on its concentration and the sensitivity of the person consuming it.
The presence of this compound is related to poor fish preservation, inadequate hygiene in handling, and other factors that accelerate microbial activity and tissue degradation. In large quantities, histamine can pose a risk to consumers, depending on their sensitivity to it.
According to the experts at Ifapa responsible for this study, which has been funded by the European Rural Development Fund (Feder) of the European Union and Ifapa’s own funds with the support of the Andalusian Government, there are currently no other rapid methods that can directly quantify these types of compounds in fish, making their proposal potentially valuable for companies and entities that monitor the quality of fish products to quickly identify batches of fish with dangerous levels of histamine for human consumption. Additionally, the technology developed could be adapted for other foods where these compounds are also a significant issue.
Research group of Ifapa at the Alameda del Obispo center.
Traditionally, this type of food analysis is carried out using a common analytical technique that involves collecting a sample, transporting it to the laboratory, subjecting it to a series of procedures such as crushing or extracting the compounds of interest, and then chemically analyzing them to identify and quantify them. «The process we propose does not require as many steps and does not destroy the sample. The piece would simply be placed and the technology applied. It would be a process similar to scanning items at the supermarket checkout,» explains Ifapa’s lead researcher José Manuel Moreno to the Descubre Foundation, an organization under the Ministry of University, Research, and Innovation.
‘Teaching’ the algorithm
As explained in the article ‘Rapid screening of tuna samples for food safety issues related to histamine content using fourier-transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) and chemometrics’ published in the Journal of Food Engineering, to develop this rapid method, experts created a mathematical algorithm with spectra obtained through mid-infrared and introduced histamine data from tuna samples with different concentrations.
FT-MIR equipment used for rapid histamine detection.
To ‘force’ these concentrations, experts subjected the fish to different storage times and temperatures to increase the variability of the compound data in the tuna samples. They then analyzed them using instruments related to mid-infrared to ‘teach’ the algorithm to predict the presence of histamine and its quantification.
A simple and portable system
Furthermore, the experts have taken it a step further and developed discriminant models, meaning that the system not only identifies and quantifies histamine but also automatically indicates if its concentration exceeds the limits set by current legislation, whether European or American (FDA) with 95% efficiency. «Other advantages of using these instruments with our proposed system are that, on one hand, they can be used in both the laboratory and in a portable version, and on the other hand, multiple pieces can be analyzed without destruction,» explains Ifapa researcher Mónica Sánchez Parra, a co-author of the study.
The next goal of the Agroindustry and Food Quality Area group at the Ifapa center in Alameda del Obispo is to transfer these algorithms to increasingly simpler analysis instruments, so that operators using them can apply them at any stage of food management and processing.