Determination and distribution of biogenic amines in bee pollen

The natural decomposition of proteins yields peptides and amino acids, which are susceptible to further decay, resulting in formation of biogenic amines (BAs) in proteinaceous foods such as bee pollen (BP). However, excessive consumption of BAs will bring side effects, so it is vital to study the presence of BAs in BP. In this study, a sensitive and reliable ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method was used for the determination of 12 BAs in BP. Large variations in the distribution and levels of BAs were observed with its total concentrations ranging from 6837.4 to 25444.2gkg(-1). In addition, the changes in the levels of BAs during storage and fermentation were preliminarily investigated. The results showed that fermentation significantly altered the quantities of BAs in rape BP, while changes during storage were modest. The results of this study could be applied for quality evaluation and risk assessment of BP in near future.