The Increase of Amines Content in the Intake of a Vegan Diet

Abstract

Vegetarian and vegan consumers have increased in the last years. However, the food industry is facing problems responding to this growing market, since the food safety of several plant-based products is not well established. Fruits, vegetables and fermented products, such as nut and grains milks and cheeses, may be rich sources of biogenic amines; whereas, the levels of these compounds should be considered before the inclusion on a daily diet. Biogenic amines are a class of compounds with wide physiological activities as antioxidant properties, inductors of cell division and allergic processes, and sleep, sexual and behavioral disorders. In addition to the levels of biogenic amines, the levels of some of its precursors as tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan and tryptamine will be presented. The foods eaten by vegans are consumed raw, cooked, fried, fermented and mainly through homemade processing methods, which have influence on the levels of bioactive compounds from the food matrix. Exposure to processing conditions such as handling, sanitary conditions, high temperatures, preparing methods (cooking in water or oil) influencing the levels of amines, will be discussed in this chapter to enrich the knowledge on food safety associated to vegan diets.