Assessment of spoilage progress for chilled tilapia fillets according to biogenic amines changes

In order to explore the possibility and safety ranges of biogenic amines indicators for evaluating fish spoilage progress, reversed-phase high-performance-liquid-chromatography method was employed to detect the biogenic amines changes of tilapia fillets during chilled storage. The results showed that initial content of monoamines and polyamines in fresh fillets was high, and those of diamines was low. During chilled storage, monoamines and polyamines content showed fluctuating and decreasing trend. Cadaverine and putrescine content were decreased quickly and became the major biogenic amines. The cadaverine and putrescine relative indicators like diamines, biogenic amines index and total biogenic amines showed a similar increasing trend of cadaverine and putrescine. The correlation analysis showed that there were high correlation among cadaverine, putrescine, diamine, biogenic amines index, total biogenic amines with storage time, microbial counts and amine nitrogen. The regression analysis indicated that the relationship among the growth of pseudomonas, enterobacteriaceae and cadaverine and putrescine was inseparable. The indicators of cadaverine, putrescine and diamine could be used for evaluating fillet spoilage progress simply and effectively. Considering the toxicity of histamine and tyramine, biogenic amines index (BAI) were more suitable. The preliminary range of BAI for evaluating spoilage progress of chilled tilapia fillets were as follows: <20 mg/kg, fresh; 20-40 mg/kg, acceptable; >40 mg/kg, spoiled. These results would offer the basic data for standard limits of biogenic amines in chilled tilapia fillets.