Is broccoli high in histamine?
Broccoli is probably low in histamine, but no level has been reported: studies found moderate putrescine, and its amines did not change over three weeks in the fridge.
- 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 studies in the 2018 review 1 | Putrescine only, averaging 1.9 to 9 mg/kg in four studies; histamine not reported. | |
| Storage study cited in the 2018 review 1 | No significant change in histamine or other amines after three weeks in the fridge; no level given. | |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 2 | Broccoli is not on the review's chart of foods the diets exclude. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
How freshness and processing change it
In one study, broccoli kept in the fridge for three weeks showed no significant change in histamine or other amines. Frozen broccoli and cooked broccoli kept as leftovers were not measured.
Not measured; its amines did not build up over three weeks of cold storage in one study. (estimate)
Not measured. (estimate)
Not measured. Storage time gives bacteria time to act, and reheating does not remove histamine. (estimate)
Why we rate broccoli 0
No histamine level for broccoli is reported in the studies we use, so this page is an estimate. What we do have is putrescine, a related amine, from five studies collected in a 2018 review by a University of Barcelona team. Four reported averages from 1.9 to 9 mg/kg, with four to ten samples each; the fifth, of only two samples, gave a range of 8.37 to 20.53 mg/kg. Those are ordinary levels for a vegetable, well below the 38.44 mg/kg the same team found in sweet corn and the 90.04 mg/kg in green peppers.
There is one more relevant study. The review cites work by Moret and colleagues that kept parsley, courgette, broccoli and cucumber in the fridge for three weeks and found no significant change in histamine, tyramine, putrescine or cadaverine. The review does not report how much histamine that study found in broccoli, so we cannot give a number, but nothing built up over three weeks of cold storage, which is the pattern that makes spinach a problem.
Another study cited in the review compared raw and boiled broccoli and found no significant difference in putrescine, though it tested only two samples of each vegetable. Histamine is heat-stable, so steaming, roasting or stir-frying broccoli will not lower whatever is there. Boiling and pouring away the water is the only method with evidence of lowering histamine in a vegetable, shown for spinach and, to a much smaller degree, for eggplant.
Broccoli does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by the ten published low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review. Because that chart covers only some foods, we say only that no diet in our sources excludes it.
We rate broccoli 0, "low", as an estimate. It is a fresh, unfermented vegetable, its putrescine is moderate in every study that gave an average, and the one storage study found no change in its amines. Cauliflower, a close relative from the same species, was measured and had no detectable histamine. Until broccoli itself is tested, treat this as the best reading of indirect evidence, not a laboratory result.
Questions about broccoli and histamine
Is broccoli low histamine?
Probably, but no histamine level for broccoli is reported in our sources. Studies report putrescine at moderate levels, and in one study its amines did not change over three weeks in the fridge. We rate it 0 as an estimate.
Does broccoli build up histamine in the fridge?
In the one study we know of, no. Broccoli kept refrigerated for three weeks showed no significant change in histamine or other amines, although the study's actual levels are not reported in our sources.
Evidence behind this page
- Five studies collected in the 2018 review measured putrescine in broccoli; four reported averages from 1.9 to 9 mg/kg and the fifth, of two samples, a range of 8.37–20.53 mg/kg. None reported histamine. 1
- Parsley, courgette, broccoli and cucumber kept refrigerated for three weeks showed no significant changes in histamine, tyramine, putrescine or cadaverine. 1
- A study of two samples per vegetable found no significant difference in putrescine between raw and boiled broccoli. 1
- Broccoli does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by ten published low-histamine diets. 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)