Abstract: In order to analyze the biogenic amines-producing capacity of different spoliage microorganisms isolated from
artificially inoculated Whitefish, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to detect the genes encoding histidine,
lysine, ornithine and tyrosine decarboxylase. Meanwhile, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was applied to
detect the biogenic amines produced by different spoliage microorganisms grown in liquid medium and whitefish tissue.
The yield factors of biogenic amines of the major spoliage organisms were also analyzed. The results showed that each of
8 spoliage microorganisms contained at least one amino acid decarboxylase gene. Multiple biogenic amines were detected
in the liquid medium and whitefish tissue by HPLC. Among the tested strains, Morganella sp.wf-1 and Morganella sp.wf-2
showed higher productivity of putrescine, cadaverine and histamine, which resulted in higher contents of putrescine,
cadaverine, histamine, momoamine, diamine, biogenic amine index and total biogenic amine in Whitefish tissue inoculated
with Morganella sp.wf-1 and Morganella sp.wf-2 compared with whitefish tissue inoculated with other spoilage organisms
and control group during the spoilage process. Meanwhile, Morganella sp.wf-1 and Morganella sp.wf-2 showed higher
yield factors of putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, momoamine, diamine, biogenic amine index and total biogenic amine
compared with other spoilage organisms. These results indicated that Morganella sp.wf-1 and Morganella sp.wf-2
were the major spoilage microorganisms that can produce biogenic amines during the spoilage of Whitefish.

Key words: Whitefish, spoliage organism, biogenic amine, yield factors