Changes of yolk biogenic amine concentrations during storage of shell hen eggs

Abstract

The RP-HPLC/UV method, using dabsyl derivatization, optimised for the determination of biogenicamines in egg yolk, was appropriate for quantification of putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, ethylamine,propylamine, ethanolamine, tyramine, tryptamine, spermine, spermidine, phenylethylamine. Detectionlimits ranged between 0.05 and 0.06 mg of biogenic amine/kg of egg yolk. Two experiments using,respectively, farm and avian eggs were conducted to evaluate yolk biogenic amine concentrations of freshand stored eggs, and to explain the effect of temperature and time of storage in the levels of biogenicamines during egg shelf-life. Only five of the 11 biogenic amines under study were detected: putrescine,cadaverine, propylamine, ethylamine and ethanolamine. Storage time during shelf-life presented a significanteffect on the levels of the five amines (p < 0.01). On the contrary, storage temperature did not presenteda significant effect on the levels of the mentioned amines, p > 0.01. The significant reduction ofbiogenic amine concentration during the shelf-life justified the application of a multiple linear regressionusing stepwise method to estimate the storage time. The regression equation was applied with success toconfirm the storage time of farm eggs and avian eggs that were stored at two different temperatures.