Quantification of Biogenic Amines in 35 Korean Cottage Industry Traditional (Fermented Red Pepper Paste) Products.

Traditional is well known for its distinguished flavor and taste. However, the safety of cottage industry products is uncertain, particularly, in terms of biogenic amine (BA) content which is not yet documented. The present study aimed to determine the level of BAs present in 35 traditional products nationwide. All products had considerable amounts of total BAs ranging from 52.95 mg/kg to 176.24 mg/kg. Individually, histamine and tyramine were either not detected or detected up to 16.94 mg/kg and 2.15-52.34 mg/kg, respectively. In all the tested products, putrescine, spermidine, and spermine were detected in the range of 7.60-56.72 mg/kg, 14.96-36.93 mg/kg, and 4.68-16.31 mg/kg, respectively. A total of 22 and 19 products had less than 1 mg/kg of cadaverine and histamine, respectively. The findings indicate that all the products tested herein had BA levels below the suggested toxicity limits recommended by the various regulatory authorities, which reveal that they are safe for human consumption.