Is apple high in histamine?
Apple is likely low in histamine, though whole apples have not been tested for it: apple juice had none in 10 samples, and apples had very little putrescine in three studies.
- Histamine
- Not measured
- Other amines
- Low
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Other amines in apples, 2018 review 1 | Three studies found putrescine from not detected to 1.7 mg/kg in apples; none reported histamine. | |
| Apple juice study in the 2018 review 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 10 apple juices; other amines low. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets (2021 review) 2 | Apples are not on the review's chart of excluded foods. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple juice (another study; not whole apples) 1 (Table 2, row "Apple juice" (study [41])) | 10 | not detected | putrescine mean 1.02 mg/kg; cadaverine mean 2.30 mg/kg; tyramine mean 0.67 mg/kg |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
Whole apples keep for weeks, and we found no study of amines in stored apples. Apple juice had no histamine in one study of ten juices. Cider is fermented apple juice and is not covered by this rating. Stewed apple, apple sauce and dried apple rings were not measured.
Histamine not measured; putrescine low in three studies. (estimate)
No histamine in 10 juices; other amines low. (measured)
Why we rate apple 0
Apples are one of the fruits people most often ask about, and one of the few where no study we use has measured histamine in the whole fruit. The 2018 review by a University of Barcelona team collected three studies that tested apples, and all three reported putrescine only: from not detected to 1.7 mg/kg, a very low level. None reported histamine, so we label apple "not measured".
The nearest direct evidence is apple juice. One study collected in the same review tested ten apple juices and found no histamine in any of them. Their other amines were low too: putrescine averaged 1.02 mg/kg, cadaverine 2.30 mg/kg and tyramine 0.67 mg/kg. The same study did find histamine in some grapefruit, orange and pineapple juices, and put it down to hygiene during processing or storage, so apple juice coming out clean is a fair sign about the fruit, though not proof.
The lists agree. Apples are not on the 2021 review's chart of foods excluded by ten published low-histamine diets, and none of our sources names apple as a suspected "histamine liberator". Fruit in general is low: a 2020 review pooled 136 fruit samples from the Spanish market and found an average histamine level of 0.07 mg/kg.
We rate apple 0, "low", as an estimate. That follows our method for foods without histamine data: we look at how the food is made and stored. A fresh apple is not fermented, aged or a stored protein food, which are the routes by which histamine builds up, and what little we know about its other amines is reassuring.
Cider is the form to watch. It is apple juice that has been fermented, and fermentation is how histamine gets into drinks such as wine and beer, so cider is not covered by this rating. Stewed apple, apple sauce and dried apple rings were not measured either. Cooking does not add histamine, but cooked fruit kept for days in the fridge is a leftover like any other.
Questions about apple and histamine
Are apples low in histamine?
Probably, though whole apples have not been tested for histamine. Apple juice had none in ten samples, apples had very little putrescine, and apples are not on the 2021 chart of foods excluded by ten published diets.
Do stewed or baked apples have more histamine?
Cooked apple was not measured. Cooking does not create histamine and does not destroy it, though cooking that drives off water can concentrate what is already there. Stewed apple kept for several days is a leftover and was not tested.
Evidence behind this page
- Three studies of apples reported putrescine from not detected to 1.7 mg/kg and did not report histamine (2018 review, Table 2). 1
- Ten apple juices had no detectable histamine; putrescine averaged 1.02 mg/kg, cadaverine 2.30 mg/kg and tyramine 0.67 mg/kg (2018 review, Table 2, study [41]). 1
- The same study attributed histamine found in grapefruit, orange and pineapple juices to poor hygiene during processing or storage. 1
- Apples are not on the 2021 review's chart of foods excluded by ten published low-histamine diets. 2
- Across 136 fruit samples from the Spanish market, histamine averaged 0.07 mg/kg, and the highest single sample had 2.51 mg/kg. 4
- Histamine in food forms mainly when bacteria decarboxylate histidine, so it builds up in spoiled and fermented foods. 2
Sources
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Rabell-González J, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Biogenic Amines in Plant-Origin Foods: Are They Frequently Underestimated in Low-Histamine Diets? Foods 7(12):205, 2018. doi:10.3390/foods7120205 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2018)
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content? Nutrients 13(5):1395, 2021. doi:10.3390/nu13051395 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2021)
- Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI). Food compatibility list for histamine intolerance. histaminintoleranz.ch (accessed November 2026), 2026. Link (Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) 2026)
- Comas-Basté O, Sánchez-Pérez S, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla M, Vidal-Carou MDC. Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art. Biomolecules 10(8):1181, 2020. doi:10.3390/biom10081181 (Comas-Basté O et al. 2020)