Chromatographic determination of biogenic amines in four typical Italian cheeses: correlations with processing and nutritional characteristics through a chemometric approach

BACKGROUND: The presence of biogenic amines (BAs) fermented food is well known. They may affect food quality, posing health risks. In this work, four typical Italian cheeses, exported worldwide, were analyzed to determine the possible presence of BAs. The cheese samples were analyzed untreated and having been subjected to common or incorrect consumer handling (domestic grating, unrefrigerated storage). RESULTS: A chromatographic-amperometric method was developed and validated. Extraction of BAs was performed by the addition of eluent, determining matrix effect and recovery of biogenic amines directly within the cheeses. Biogenic amines were present in the range of 0.019–0.044 g kg−1, well below the current EU limit. Home-manipulation confirmed recontamination of the cheese. The contents of BAs were correlated with the main processing parameters and with the nutritional properties of the four cheeses through the multivariate statistical analysis (principal component analysis). This is believed to be the first study that presents these correlations. CONCLUSION: This study highlights correlations among BAs and carbohydrates, and anticorrelations with pH and, to a lesser extent, with moisture. Interestingly, BAs are correlated with fat content. This correlation was confirmed by a new principal component analysis performed on our data set with additional data from the literature.