Polyamines in foods: development of a food database

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Food Chemistry
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, spermine) are bioactive nutrients linked to health and disease.
• Information on polyamine content in foods is limited.
• Understanding food polyamine levels is crucial for nutritional research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a comprehensive food polyamine database using existing literature.
• To estimate dietary polyamine intake and identify key food contributors.
• To quantify polyamine levels in various Swedish dairy products.

Main Methods:

• Conducted an extensive literature search to gather published polyamine data.
• Performed laboratory analysis of Swedish dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheese, sour milk).
• Utilized high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a UV detector for polyamine quantification.

Main Results:

• Fruits and cheese are significant sources of putrescine; vegetables and meat are rich in spermidine and spermine, respectively.
• Analyzed Swedish dairy products showed matured cheese with the highest polyamine content (52.3 mg/kg putrescine, 1.2 mg/kg spermidine, 2.6 mg/kg spermine).
• Low-fat milk contained higher levels of putrescine (1.2 mg/kg) and spermidine (1.0 mg/kg) compared to other milk types.

Conclusions:

• The developed food polyamine database serves as a valuable resource for researchers.
• Integration with the Swedish Food Database enables estimation of polyamine content per serving.
• This facilitates better assessment of dietary polyamine intake and its implications.