Quantification of Biogenic Amines in 35 Korean Cottage Industry Traditional Gochujang (Fermented Red Pepper Paste) Products

Abstract

Traditional gochujang is well known for its distinguished flavor and taste. However, the safety of cottage industry gochujang products is uncertain, particularly, in terms of biogenic amine (BA) content which is not yet documented. The present study aimed to determine the level of BAs present in 35 traditional gochujang products nationwide. All gochujang products had considerable amounts of total BAs ranging from 52.95 mg/kg to 176.24 mg/kg. Individually, histamine and tyramine were either not detected or detected up to 16.94 mg/kg and 2.15–52.34 mg/kg, respectively. In all the tested gochujang products, putrescine, spermidine, and spermine were detected in the range of 7.60–56.72 mg/kg, 14.96–36.93 mg/kg, and 4.68–16.31 mg/kg, respectively. A total of 22 and 19 gochujang products had less than 1 mg/kg of cadaverine and histamine, respectively. The findings indicate that all the gochujang products tested herein had BA levels below the suggested toxicity limits recommended by the various regulatory authorities, which reveal that they are safe for human consumption.

Physicochemical, Microbial, and Volatile Compound Characteristics of Gochujang, Fermented Red Pepper Paste, Produced by Traditional Cottage Industries

“…In the present study, all the tested gochujang products were prepared using salt supplements between 5% and 12%, which further impacted the salinity of the final product [1]. During the gochujang fermentation process, salinity increase was also detected by Beak et al [27], whereas a decrease in salinity was reported by Ryu et al [24].…”

“…One-way analysis of variance in a completely randomized design and Duncan's multiple range comparison tests were used to explore the significant differences between the samples with a 95% confidence interval at p < 0.05. The multivariate exploratory techniques of principal component analysis (PCA) were conducted to categorize the gochujang samples based on their pH, lightness, redness, yellowness, amino nitrogen content, aerobic mesophilic bacteria count, yeast/mold count, and major volatile compound profile using the XLSTAT package on Microsoft Office Excel 2016 version [1].…”

“…A total of 35 gochujang products were purchased from various cottage industries located in different provinces of the Republic of Korea, as previously reported [1]. The major ingredients of gochujang products include red pepper powder, glutinous rice powder, powdered soybeans, grain syrup, malt, salt, and water.…”

“…The major ingredients of gochujang products include red pepper powder, glutinous rice powder, powdered soybeans, grain syrup, malt, salt, and water. Detailed ingredients of the purchased gochujang products were also previously reported [1].…”

“…Gochujang (fermented red pepper paste) is one of the most important grain-based traditional Korean fermented foods and is generally used as a sauce in Korean cuisines and as a seasoning in spicy foods. Gochujang has a distinguished flavor and savory taste [1]. In 2017, the total domestic and international retail market revenue of gochujang accounted for approximately USD 149.55 million and USD 31.98 million, respectively.…”