Histamine content in fresh and frozen pelagic species from the Mauritanian Atlantic Coast

Abstract

Histamine is a security issue in food safety as an indicator of the freshness of consumed fish product; that is why we aimed in this study to determine the histamine content in 7 fish species (Scomber japonicus; Sarda sarda; Sardinella aurita; S. maderensis; Ethmalosa fimbriata; Pomatomus saltatrix and Trachurus trachurus). Hundred and eight frozen and fresh pelagic of scombroid and non-scombroid species were collected from the Nouakchott fish market (Mauritanian Atlantic coast) in different period of 2020 and 2021. Histamine was quantified by the technique of high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Histamine was detected in all analyzed fresh and frozen species and varied from 4.21 to 201.60 ppm. All evaluated fresh fish species (S. aurita; S. maderensis; E. fimbriata; P. saltatrix and T. trachurus) were conform to the FAO/WHO and the European commission regulations. Regarding investigated frozen fish species (S. aurita; S. japonicus and S. sarda); the scombroid species (S. japonicus and S. sarda) were all under the set limits; however, even its more likely for scombroid fish to develop histamine, our results showed that histamine exceed the limit in one sample of non-scombroid fish (S. aurita). No significant variation in histamine levels between scombroid and non-scombroid fish species was obtained; thereby, the study showed that fish product commercialized at the Nouakchott fish market have a good quality and safe for human consumption.