Biogenic Amines in Wines: A Review.

Biogenic amines are basic nitrogen compounds that can have toxicological effects on human health when present in foods and beverages at significant levels. These compounds are produced in small amounts in all living organisms and play an important role in cell growth and development, as well as in protecting stressed cells. Their presence at dangerous levels is principally attributed to microbial decarboxylation of thecorresponding amino acids, and hence the occurrence of biogenic amines can be related to both food safety and food spoilage, becoming a useful index for the assessment of foodquality and of the related manufacturing practices. Nowadays an increasing attention is given to the presence in wine of biogenic amines, whose level and the possible synergic effect with ethanol may represent a significant risk for some consumers. The major toxicological implications are related toaromatic amines, such as histamine, tyramine, and 2-phenylethylamine; nevertheless, for these amines it is quite difficult to establish the exact threshold of toxicity, whichdepends on the efficiency of the detoxification mechanisms of different individuals. However, some countries have set limits for histamine in wine ranging from 2 to 10 mg/L, while for tyramine levels exceeding 10 mg/L in beverages should be considered unsafe. Several other amines may be found in wine, among them polyamines, that can enhance the adverse effect of aromatic amines, or cause negative consequences on wine aroma. Moreover, spermine and spermidine, that have secondary group, are involved in nitrosamine formation, compounds with a known cancerous action. Volatile amines, such as methylamine and ethylamine, come from amination of non-nitrogen compounds, such as aldehydes and ketones, and they have not a toxic action, but can exert a negative effecton wine aroma. Biogenic amines usually found in wine are cadaverine, histamine, 2-phenylethylamine, putrescine and tyramine; agmatine and ethanolamine can be abundant,but they are generally little investigated. Low biogenic amine amounts, as normal constituents of the raw materials, can be released in must from grape and pulp during the winemaking process, and the biogenic amine concentration may increase as consequence of alcoholic fermentation, yeast autolysis, malolactic fermentation and wine aging, usually being red wines richer in amines than white wines. In this work an overview of the presence of biogenic amines in wine is given, with a focus on the main factors affecting their presence and concentration in this alcoholic beverage.