Abstract: A quick and accurate method for the determination of histamine content in tuna was proposed using high performance liquid chromatography with C18 column and UV detector. Besides, fish meat from different parts of tuna was soaked in aqueous solutions containing sodium D-isoascorbate alone, sodium citrate alone, or both of them for 2－3 h before －20 ℃ storage, and the production of histamine was measured during the storage. The linear regression equation of the proposed method was obtained as follows: Y = 5.3748X＋11.42, of which the linear range was between 10μg/mL and 1000μg/mL. The detection limit of the method was 3.684 μg/mL. This method is a simple, accurate and widely applicable method, and has been used to determine real samples with satisfying results. Antioxidant-treated tuna meat revealed a much lower level of histamine than its untreated counterpart. Among three treatment ways, combination of the two antioxidants best inhibited the production of histamine, followed by sodium D-isoascorbate alone, and the inhibition effect of sodium citrate alone was the worst. Our results demonstrated that antioxidant treatment not only prevented tuna meat from becoming dark due to oxidation, but effectively inhibited the production of histamine as well.

Key words: high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), histamine, Thunnus obesus, antioxidants