Study: Direct Application of Biogenic Amines to Kibble1
Biogenic amines (BA) are byproducts of microbial spoilage that are produced by decarboxylation of free amino acids. The concentrations of some biogenic amines (tyramine, putrescine, and cadaverine) normally increase during the processing and storage of meat and meat products, whereas others (spermidine and spermine) decrease or remain constant.2 The freshness and quality of meat and meat products is therefore critical for the quality and, and potentially palatability, of the final petfood products.
Even if the presence of biogenic amines in pet food could affect palatability, no data was available at the beginning of this study to fully evaluate this topic. The objective of this study was to determine the dosage of biogenic amines able to affect palatability in cats as well as in dogs, by treating selected standard diets with controlled amounts of biogenic amines of choice, respectively histamine, putrescine and cadaverine.
Palatability of treated cat food showed a negative impact for kibbles containing 300 ppm of putrescine, but the biogenic amine mixture didn’t show the same effect as the amine alone, see Figure 1. Further tests would be needed to determine the minimum threshold for negative palatability impact. Monitoring the level of putrescine in cat products could be a way to improve palatant efficacy and could lead to better performing products.