The Impact of Synthetic and Natural Additives on Biogenic Amine Production in Food Products

Biogenic amines (BAs) are compounds that are produced in foods containing proteins and amino acids by microorganisms. This means that foods that are high in protein, such as meat, seafood, and dairy products, are more likely to have higher content of BAs. One of the important challenges is the lack of comprehensive information on the effect of additives on foods. Food additives have a high impact on the quality and safety of food products. Applications of food additives include improving color, texture, smell, appearance, and nutritional properties. One of the most important applications is the use of food additives as antimicrobials. This group of additives reduces the adverse effect of microorganisms on food, such as the production of BAs. This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of artificial and natural additives on BAs formation in five food groups (meat, fish, wine, dairy, and plant-based foods). Also, the methods of forming BAs, measurement methods, the effect of BAs on health, the effect on food quality, and the mechanism of the effects of additives on the formation of BAs have been discussed. The results showed that food additives may increase, decrease, or have little effect on BA production in foods depending on the nature of the additive and the food matrix. Typically, the additives were introduced into the foods by simple mixing, encapsulation, or coating. Glucose, sucrose, sorbitol, diammonium phosphate, some yeasts, and some probiotics were reported to increase the production of BAs. The natural additives with the ability to reduce BAs include essential oils (e.g., cinnamon, clove, green tea, grape seed, ginger, onion, garlic, rosemary, lemon, cumin, and oregano), polyphenols (e.g., tocopherol, gallic acid, caffeic acid, catechin, and nicotinic acid), some yeasts, some culture starters, some enzymes, some salts, and nisin. The synthetic additives with this ability included sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, sodium metabisulfite, sulfur dioxide, and bentonite. Many food additives were reported to have little or no effect on BA production, including poppy oil, bay leaf, certain types of green tea, lysozyme, tannin, chitosan, and organic and inorganic nitrogen.