Biogenic amine production by lactic acid bacteria, acetic bacteria and yeast isolated from wine

Biogenic amines are undesirable in all foods and beverages because if consumed at too high concentration, they may induce food-borne intoxications. The biogenic amine production by 155 strains of lactic acid bacteria, 40 strains of acetic bacteria and 36 strains of yeast isolated from wine were analysed in wine, grape must and synthetic media by HPLC. We did not observe biogenic amine production by acetic bacteria and yeast; however, we found production of histamine, tyramine, phenylethylamine and putrescine by LAB. A correlation of 100% was observed between biogenic amine production in synthetic medium and wine and between activity and presence of gene. With the results expose in this paper, we can consider than the lactic acid bacteria are the microorganisms responsible of histamine, tyramine and phenylethylamine production in wine. However, we cannot consider the microorganisms analysed in this work to be those responsible for tryptamine, cadaverine and putrescine levels in wine. These results could lead to future applications for preventing excessive amounts of histamine, tyramine and phenylethylamine forming during vinification and storage.