RESEARCH ARTICLE Levels of biogenic amines in cheese: correlation to microbial status, dietary intakes, and their health risk assessment Jin-Kui Ma 1 & Amal A. Raslan 2 & Seham Elbadry 2 & Waleed Rizk El-Ghareeb 3 & Zohair S. Mulla 3 & May Bin-Jumah 4 & Mohamed M. Abdel-Daim 5,6 & Wageh Sobhy Darwish 7 Received: 6 March 2020 /Accepted: 4 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract Biogenic amines (BAs) are natural toxicants produced during the metabolism of their precursor amino acids or due to the proteolytic activities of some microorganisms. The objective of this study was to estimate the formed BAs in five types of the most commonly consumed and retailed cheese in Egypt. The examined cheese types included Feta, Karish, Mozzarella, Rumy, and Mish. Besides, the total mesophilic (TMC) and total psychrophilic (TPsC) bacterial counts were investigated. Furthermore, the estimated daily intakes (EDI) of BAs via the ingestion of various types of cheese were calculated, and their potential health risks were discussed. The achieved results indicated the formation of histamine (HIS), tyramine (TYR), cadaverine (CAD), putrescine, spermine, and spermidine at different concentrations. Except for Feta cheese, all samples (100%) of other cheese types had HIS concentrations higher than the established maximum permissible limits. Mish cheese contained the highest concentrations of total BAs, particularly, HIS, TYR, and CAD. TBA content showed significant positive correlations with TMC in the examined cheese types. The recorded EDI values of the different BAs in the current study would not have adverse effects. However, excessive consumption of cheese contaminated with BA might have serious health implications such as symptoms of histamine poisoning. Therefore, the adoption of strict hygienic measures during the production, storage, and distribution of cheese is highly recommended to reduce the formation of BAs in cheese. Keywords Cheese . Biogenic amines . Microbial population . Egypt . Dietary intakes . Risk assessment Introduction Cheese is among the most important dairy products consumed worldwide. In Egypt, like many Middle Eastern countries, there are wide varieties and kinds of cheese, such as Feta, Karish, Mozzarella, Rumy, and Mish. Cheese represents a primary dish that provides humans, particularly children, with an adequate amount of their needs from protein, fat, and es- sential elements such as calcium and magnesium (Gerosa and Skoet 2013). At the same time, dairy products, including cheese, can be contaminated with natural toxicants such as biogenic amines and mycotoxins, leading to several adverse health effects (Marcobal et al. 2012). Biogenic amines (BAs) are natural compounds produced by several species of the microorganisms or as a result of the metabolism of some amino acids (Shah and Swiatlo 2008; Wunderlichová et al. 2014). Biogenic amines including hista- mine (HIS), tyramine (TYM), cadaverine (CAD), putrescine (PUT), spermine (SPM), and spermidine (SPD) at their phys- iological concentrations play essential roles in several cellular Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya * Wageh Sobhy Darwish wagehdarwish@zu.edu.eg; wagehdarwish@yahoo.ca 1 School of Food & Pharmaceutical Engineering, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526061, China 2 Educational Veterinary Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt 3 Department of Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia 4 Biology Department, College of Sciene, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 5 Department of Zoology, Science College, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia 6 Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt 7 Food Control Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10401-2 / Published online: 7 August 2020 Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2020) 27:44452–44459