Evaluation of fatty acids and biogenic amines profiles in mullet and tuna roe during six months of storage at 4 °C

The aim of this study was to monitor the fatty acids and biogenic amines (BAs) profiles in mullet (MugilCephalus) and tuna (Thunnus thynnus) roe (bottarga) during storage (0–180 days) at 4 8C. Fatty acids wereanalyzed by gas chromatography (GC) as methyl ester derivatives while BAs were investigated usingreverse-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) as dansyl derivatives. The content of total fatty acidsdecreased with time in mullet bottarga (BM) while in tuna bottarga (BT) the PUFA value showed a slightdecrease up to 30 days followed by an intense reduction after 90 and 180 days. An increasing content ofBAs was observed with time in all investigated samples without reaching hazardous concentrations. Ingeneral, the BAs concentrations were in decreasing order: tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine andhistamine. In BM, phenylethylamine was always present, representing a possible discriminatingcompound as it was absent in tuna bottarga at any time of storage. A Pearson correlation matrix showedthat lipid and protein degradation products were strongly and significantly correlated over theconsidered storage time implying that lipid oxidation processes are in some way linked to the chemicalproduction of BAs.