Biogenic Amine Content of Tarhana: A Traditional Fermented Food

Tarhana is a traditional fermented cereal food consumed in nearly all regions of Turkey as a soup having a delicious and desired taste. There are some other products similar to tarhana in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Hungary, Finland, Greece, and Scotland. Fifteen homemade and 5 commercially produced tarhana samples were analyzed for the first time to determine biogenic amine contents. Tyramine was the prevailing biogenic amine. Average tyramine concentrations of homemade and commercially produced tarhana samples were 92.8 and 55.0 mg/kg of tarhana, respectively. Concentrations of biogenic amines were below the permissible limits except for two homemade samples. The pH values of tarhana samples were in the range from 3.43 to 5.03; acidities were from 0.60 to 3.89 g/100 g tarhana (as lactic acid); total dry matters were from 86.42 to 92.32 g/100 g tarhana; and total free amino acid contents were from 0.035 to 1.427 g/100 g tarhana (as leucine).