During germination, natural C59 wnt purchase starches are converted into digestible and simple sugars. Therefore, breads, flours, and pastas produced with sprouted grains are more digestible. Furthermore, they contain higher levels of carotenes, B vitamins and enzymes. The germination process can also remove naturally occurring toxins (Prodanov, Sierra, & Vidal-Valverde, 1997). According to Gloria, Tavares-Neto, Labanca, and Carvalho (2005), germinated vegetables can contain higher levels of polyamines due to the rapid cell proliferation during the early stages of growth. During germination,

there can also be formation of biogenic amines due to the physiological changes in the tissues and/or due to the activity of bacterial decarboxylating enzymes. The warm and moist environment is conducive to rapid proliferation of microorganisms including Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas spp., known to produce amino acid decarboxylases ( Gloria, 2005). Although all cells are capable of producing polyamines, there are some instances when selleck compound higher amounts are required. Therefore, a continuous supply of polyamines from the diet is required

(Bardócz, 1995). The objective of this study was to determine the profile and the levels of polyamines and other bioactive amines in corn products commonly available in the Brazilian diet, including germinated corn which is becoming popular worldwide. Corn products were purchased from the market of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. The samples included: fresh sweet corn from the cob, canned sweet corn and dried corn. Canned sweet corn was used to obtain two separate products: embryo and endosperm. Germinated corn

was produced using two corn cultivars (BRS2020 and PL8080), which were provided by a seed Producers Association of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Germination was accomplished by keeping the seeds in an incubator at 22 ± 2 °C, 90 ± 2% relative humidity and in the presence of light. They were analyzed before and at the 5th germination day. At least three different lots of each product were analyzed in triplicate. mafosfamide Bioactive amine standards were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA). They included spermine tetrahydrochloride, spermidine trihydrochloride, putrescine dihydrochloride, agmatine sulphate, cadaverine dihydrochloride, 5-hydroxitryptamine (serotonine), histamine dihydrochloride, tyramine hydrochloride, 2-phenylethylamine hydrochloride and tryptamine. o-Phthaldialdehyde was also purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. The reagents were of analytical grade, except HPLC reagents which were chromatographic grade. Ultrapure water was obtained from a Milli-Q System (Millipore Corp., Milford, MA, USA). The mobile phases were filtered through HAWP and HVWP membranes (47 mm diameter and 0.45 μm pore size, Millipore Corp., Milford, MA, USA), used for aqueous and organic solvents, respectively.