MAINE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 77 



According to these results, variations in the preliminary treatment 

 of the fish and their condition have no effect upon the formation of 

 ammonia or amines during storage. Only slight variations are 

 shown in the "results of the analyses of the whole fish as removed 

 from the can, the flesh alone, and the viscera and contents, indicating 

 that no greater changes took place in any one portion than in the 

 others. The quantity of total volatile alkaline material gradually 

 increased during storage at ordinary temperatures in all three of the 

 divisions made for analysis, but when stored at a temperature of 

 33° F. its formation was greatly retarded. 



The relative quantities of ammonia and amines composing the 

 total volatile alkaline material changed during storage. After proc- 

 essing practically two-thirds of the total alkaline nitrogen con- 

 sisted of ammonia and one-third of amines. After storage these 

 proportions changed, the volatile alkaline material consisting of about 

 equal parts of ammonia and amines. Storage.at a low temperature, 

 while causing a decrease in the total quantity of ammonia and 

 amines, apparently does not affect the relative amounts. The 

 quantity of ammonia and amines in the storage samples is also about 

 equally divided. 



By far the largest part of the volatile alkaline material, 1 consisting 

 of amines, existed in the form of triamine in canned sardines stored 

 for the lengths of time used in these tests. Apparently the separa- 

 tions of the canned fish had no effect on the results for triamine. 

 No uniform increase or decrease in the amounts of triamine contained 

 in the different portions of the fish analyzed, due to the various 

 periods or temperatures of storage, was shown. Monamine and 

 diamine were present in very small amounts and about equal quan- 

 tities at the end of 15 and 18 months. At the end of 32 months of 

 storage no monamine was found, while the amount of diamine had 

 increased in some instances, being double or more than double the 

 quantities found at the end of 15 months. The temperature of 

 storage apparently has no influence on the quantities of monamine 

 and diamine formed. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



Marked changes in the quantities and relative amounts of ammonia 

 and total amines took place in the canned fish on standing. In the 

 case of packs composed of ground meat, these changes could be de- 

 tected at one-month intervals, amounting in the first few months to 

 an increase of approximately 5 mg of total amines per 100 grams of 

 the material per month. Directly after processing the volatile 

 alkaline material contained practically two-thirds ammonia and one- 



1 As the method (37) for these determinations was not available at the time of the first examination of 

 these packs, the data for the separation of the total amine fraction into its constituents are given forth© 

 longer periods of storage only. 



