Rapid identification of histamine-producing bacteria isolated from fish using MALDI-TOF MS

Satomi Uehara; Makiko Kobayashi; Keisuke Kimura; Jun Suzuki; Kenji Sadamasu

doi:10.1007/s13197-021-05092-7

Rapid identification of histamine-producing bacteria isolated from fish using MALDI-TOF MS

J Food Sci Technol. 2021 Oct;58(10):4055-4061. doi: 10.1007/s13197-021-05092-7. Epub 2021 Apr 18.

Authors

Satomi Uehara¹, Makiko Kobayashi¹, Keisuke Kimura², Jun Suzuki¹, Kenji Sadamasu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, 3-24-1, Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-0073 Japan.
² Department of Food Safety, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, 3-24-1, Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-0073 Japan.

Abstract

Histamine-producing bacteria (HPB) produce histamine from histidine contained in food through the action of histidine decarboxylase. To identify HPB isolated from food, it is necessary to detect histamine produced by the bacteria. In this study, we concurrently identified HPB and detected histamine by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. After 24 h of incubation, 30 of 34 bacterial strains were correctly identified. Histamine was detected in all HPB cultured on Niven's medium, and 94% of HPB cultured in histidine broth, except for two strains with low histamine production. This method may greatly simplify the procedure and reduce the time required to identify HPB.

Keywords: Bacterial identification; Histamine; Histamine food poisoning; Histamine-producing bacteria; MALDI-TOF MS.