Sorry. Forgot to reply to all on this one.
Tony
----- Original Message -----
From: "Anthony Bimbo" <apbimbo@verizon.net>
To: "Byron Gurdián García" <bgurdian@protecnet.go.cr>
Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 7:29 PM
Subject: Re: Histamine in fish meal
Byron:
The histamine content of fishmeal depends on the freshness of the fish when
they were processed and the conditions used to produce the fishmeal (drying
temperature).
Since fishmeal is sold globally, there are different levels of histamine
specified for the fishmeal sold. These different levels relate to the
species being fed the fishmeal. Some species actually like the biogenic
amines (they are attractants).
Generally, a biogenic amine scan is done for fishmeal since some fish
because of the amino acid content of the protein yield lower levels of
histamine even when the fish are stale compared to other species where the
fish are relatively fresh or only moderately stale. These other biogenic
amines include cadaverine, putracene, and tyramine as well as the histamine.
So the combination is a better indicator than just histamine.
In very general terms a histamine level of 500 mg/kg would relate to a high
quality fishmeal while a value of 1000 mg/kg would be the next lower
quality. Standard or FAQ fishmeal will not have a histamine specification.
People use the TVN (total volatile nitrogen) as a specification also. In
that case a figure of 100 mgN/100g would be the highest quality and 150
mgN/100g the lowest quality.
Raw material being screened for TVN will generally be 30 mgN/100g for the
highest quality and 100 mgN/100g for the standard or FAQ quality.
You did not list your affiliation so it is difficult to provide more
information than that.
The gisserosine issue raised by someone else was attributed to flame dried
fishmeal with a high solubles content. When this fishmeal was fed at levels
of 10-15% in the diets of chickens it caused problems. Because of the price
of fishmeal, it is no longer used for poultry at those levels although it
might be used in countries where there is a local production. To my
knowledge gizzard erosion is no longer an issue, although I am sure someone
will come up with an isolated case here or there.
Tony Bimbo
Technical Consultant- International Fisheries
55 Cedar Lane, PO Box 1606
Kilmarnock, VA 22482 USA
Tel /Fax 804-435-3915
Email apbimbo@verizon.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Byron Gurdián García" <bgurdian@protecnet.go.cr>
To: <seafood@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 6:36 PM
Subject: Histamine in fish meal
Hi Seafood community:
Does anybody know about acceptable histamine concentration in fish meal?
Fish meal is intended to be used as animal food. Mammals are sensible to
histamine, most of the time fish does not have histamine, improper handling
is the main problem, but now it appear to be a point of concern to animal
feed processors.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Byron
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