Levels of histamine and other biogenic amines in high quality red wines.

Viktor Konakovsky (1) , Margarete Focke (2) , Karin Hoffmann-Sommergruber (2) , Rainer Schmid (3) , Otto Scheiner (2) , Peter Moser (4) , Reinhart Jarisch (1) , Wolfgang Hemmer (1)

1 FAZ - Floridsdorf Allergy Centre [Vienna] - Floridsdorfer Allergie Zentrum [Wien]
2 Centre for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Department of Pathophysiology
3 Clinical Institute of Medical & Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics
4 Falstaff Magazine

Biogenic amines in wine may impair sensory wine quality and cause adverse health effects in susceptible individuals. In this study, histamine and other biogenic amines were determined by HPLC after amine derivatization to dansyl chloride conjugates in 100 selected high quality red wines made from seven different cultivars. Amine levels varied considerably between different wines. The most abundant amines were putrescine (median 19.4 mg/L, range 2.9-122), histamine (7.2, 0.5-26.9), and tyramine (3.5, 1.1-10.7), whereas lower levels were found for isoamylamine (median 0.25 mg/L), phenylethylamine (0.16 mg/L), cadaverine (0.58 mg/L), spermidine (1.8 mg/L), and tryptamine (0.06 mg/L). Positive correlations were observed between isoamylamine and phenylethylamine, and between histamine, putrescine and tyramine levels. Amine concentrations were similar in all wine cultivars except Pinot noir and St. Laurent wines which showed significantly higher tryptamine and cadaverine levels. The results point out that levels of histamine and other biogenic amines may vary considerably between red wines independent of grape variety and that high amounts can be found also in high-rated wines. Adopting a legal histamine threshold level of 10 mg/L in the EU, as formerly introduced in other countries, would have excluded 34% of the investigated wines from the market.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Viktor Konakovsky, Margarete Focke, Karin Hoffmann-Sommergruber, Rainer Schmid, Otto Scheiner, et al.. Levels of histamine and other biogenic amines in high quality red wines.. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/19440049.2010.551421⟩. ⟨hal-00671650⟩