Determination of biogenic amine content of Beyaz cheese and biogenic amineproduction ability of some lactic acid bacteria

Twenty-two samples of Beyaz "Turkish white" cheese' were randomly collected from Turkish supermarkets; 13 were prepared with, the others were prepared without starter culture. Tryptamine (TRY), phenylethylamine (PHA), putresc ine (PUT), cadaverine (CAD), histamine (HIT) and tyramine (TYA) content of cheese samples was determined by reversed phase high performance liquid chr omatography (RP-HPLC). Also the capability for amine production of some lac tic acid bacteria, isolated from cheese samples, was tested using Joosten-N orthold medium (JNM) and RP-HPLC. PUT, CAD and TYA were present in high concentrations in Beyaz cheese sample s, ranging from nil to 24.1 mg/100 g, from nil to 53.3 mg/100 g and from 0. 78 to 25.9 mg/100 g, respectively. Total amine content of Beyaz cheeses pro duced without starter culture was higher than in cheeses produced with star ter culture. Enterococci had the highest TYA and PHA production ability (76.1 to 112 mg/ l 00 ml and 0 to 61.1 mg/100 ml, respectively). Three strains of Lactococcu s lactis showed high ability to cause the formation of TYA and PHA. Lactoba cilli had no TRY production ability while other biogenic amines were produc ed in amounts less than 1.52 mg/100 ml.