Biologically active amines in food processing and amines produced by bacteria, and polyamines and tumour growth

Directorate-General For Research And Innovation

Description

Agricultural and fisheries research

Sujets

• Genetic engineering
• Genetically modified organism
• Organic compound
• Sciences et techniques

Informations

• Publié par: DIRECTORATE-GENERAL-FOR-RESEARCH-AND-INNOVATION
• Nombre de lectures: 27
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

* * EUROPEAN
• •
• i • COMMISSION
SCIENCE
RESEARCH
DEVELOPMENT
European cooperation in the field of
scientific and technical research
Body pool of:
Polyamines Food science and technology
Growth factors
Nutrients
COST 917 Λ
Biogenically active amines »ut 1 Tum< >ur 4
in food
Volume III
Body pool of: Biologically active amines
Polyamines
Growth factors in food processing and
Nutrients
amines produced by
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bacteria, and polyamines
and tumour growth
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( Ζ/ COST
COST
European cooperation
in the field of scientific
and technical research European Commission
COST 917
Biogenically active amines in food
Volume III
Biologically active amines in food processing
and amines produced by bacteria,
and polyamines and tumour growth
Edited by
Susan Bardocz, Jos Koninkx,
Maria Grillo and Ann White
Directorate-General
Science, Research and Development LEGAL NOTICE
Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible
for the use which might be made of the following information.
This publication is an initiative of the members of COST Action 917 and forms part of the series of publi­
cations of proceedings from workshops organised by the COST action. Their aim is to present the current
state of the art and the contributions of the authors in the domain. The Commission, through the COST
Secretariat, supports this initiative, financing the publication of the manuscripts. Its content does not, how­
ever, express the Commission's official views. Responsibility for information and views set out in the pub­
lication lies entirely with the editors and the authors.
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
COST home page: http://www.belspo.be/cost
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1999
ISBN 92-828-7008-1
© European Communities, 1999
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium Introduction to COST Action 917
COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a research programme to foment scientific
and technical cooperation at European level, complementing in particular the EU framework
programmes and EUREKA. COST cooperation takes the form of concerted Actions, which
involve the coordination of national research projects. The Actions focus on specific themes
which are targeted by participating countries according to their research priorities. The
coordination avoids unnecessary duplication of research, at both European and national level,
and helps build larger, more effective scientific communities. At present, COST offers the
possibility to cooperate between scientists from up to 28 member countries, and participants
from other countries may be admitted on a case by case basis. COST is funding projects
involved in precompetitive and basic research as well as other activities of public utility. The
scientific quality of COST projects is well recognised and contributes to a coherent structure for
European research.
In the field of Food Science and Technology, COST is mainly concerned with improving food
safety, food quality and nutrition. Taking into account these main topics, COST Action 917
(1996-2001) is specifically devoted to "Biologically active amines in food". At present, twelve
countries are formally participating in this COST Action: Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland,
Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and United
Kingdom. The Action is supported by the European Commission Directorate General for
Science, Research and Development, and in particular by DG XII-AP, responsible for COST
support and its Scientific Secretariat.
The main objective of COST Action 917 is to combine relevant European expertise to
improve our knowledge on the importance and contribution of biologically active amines in
the diet to growth and health by establishing their bioavailability and clarifying their
physiological functions.
Francisca Serra
Scientific Secretary SUMMARY
A 5 year programme has financed by the EU DG/XIIB to study biologically active amines
in food. It has been known for some time that amines possess biological activity. They are
formed during normal metabolic processes in living organisms and are therefore present in
our everyday food products. However, the characteristics and biological functions of amines
are very diverse. They can be categorised as biogenic amines (serotonin, putrescine,
cadaverine, agmatine, tyramine, histamine, phenylethylamine and tryptamine) or natural
polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine). Both polyamines and biogenic amines
are present in our food, but have different effects: polyamines appear to be essential while
biogenic amines are mostly detrimental.
Biogenic amines are formed and degraded during normal cellular metabolism. They can also
be produced by bacteria by decarboxylation of free amino acids. Therefore, all foodstuffs
produced using fermentation processes or exposed to bacteria or microbial contamination
during processing or storage can contain large amounts of biogenic amines. Biogenic amine
formation requires only free amino acids, a microorganism containing decarboxylase activity
and conditions allowing bacterial growth. Since biogenic amines play a variety of
physiological roles, such as regulation of body temperature, stomach volume and pH, and
can alter brain activity, they have the potential to exert profound effects on health and well-
being. Biologically the most effective biogenic amines are tyramine, which is vasoactive,
and histamine, which is both vasoactive and psychoactive. High biogenic amine consumption
is dangerous. It can lead to nausea, respiratory distress, hot flushes, sweating, heart
palpitations, headaches, bright red rush, oral burning, hyper- or hypotension so that the
biogenic amine content of food should be kept under control.
In contrast, the natural polyamines through their involvement in signal transduction and in
nearly every step of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis, are essential for growth and cell
proliferation. Their importance in reproductive function is evident even from their names
(spermidine and spermine). Recent work has contradicted earlier beliefs that polyamines
needed for growth were exclusively synthesized in situ. It is now apparent that the source
of polyamines accumulating in the small bowel or other organs under the influence of
hormones or growth factors, might originate from: (a) de novo biosynthesis; (b) the diet; or
(c) bacteria resident in the gut lumen. As with semi-essential amino acids, our diet is a very
important source of polyamines. Human health and proper nutrition is based on a healthy
gut. Since the intestinal epithelium has the highest cell turnover, polyamines are vital for
the proper structure and function of the entire digestive tract and for maintaining its
metabolic activity. Other organs of the body also require polyamines for their growth,
renewal and metabolism. Although every cell can synthesises to some extent, it
appears that the body relies on a continuous supply of polyamines from the food. Because
polyamines are so important for proliferation, cancer growth also requires polyamines, most
of which comes from the diet. Potentially, dietary polyamine intake could be limited by
manipulating the polyamine content of certain foodstuffs or designing low polyamine diets.
The advantageous and detrimental effects of biologically active amines must be identified,
therefore we have to improve our knowledge on the above problems in order to advise
food/feed manufacturers and seed companies involved in creating transgenic plants in which
the amine content and the enzymes involved in amine metabolism are modulated to satisfy
our dietary requirements.
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