Although seafood spoilage and histamine formation are the result
of bacterial growth, the use of histamine content as an indicator
of spoilage is not necessarily reliable (Arnold & Brown, 1978). A
fish with obvious spoilage detectable by the consumer will most
likely not be consumed, whereas a fish with a good appearance
and no detectable spoilage odours but a high histamine level
may be consumed. By the time the low spiked samples started to
show decomposition based on the >30 mg/100 g content of TVBN,
the histamine level had already reached to more than 20 mg/100 g
at temperatures of 25 C and higher (Figs. 2A and 3A).