Is cucumber high in histamine?
Fresh cucumber is low in histamine: none was found in 10 cucumbers tested in Spain, with low putrescine and traces of tyramine. Pickles are a different food and were not measured.
- Histamine
- Not detected
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lab measurements, Spain 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 10 cucumbers; putrescine averaged 5.42 mg/kg. |
| Other studies in the 2018 review 1 | None reported histamine in cucumber; average putrescine ranged from 3.2 to 25 mg/kg. | |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 2 | Cucumber 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. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cucumbers sold in Spain 1 (Table 1) | 10 | not detected | putrescine mean 5.42 mg/kg (1.32–10.62); tyramine mean 0.61 mg/kg; cadaverine not detected |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
A study cited in the 2018 review stored cucumbers in the fridge for three weeks and found no significant change in histamine or other amines. Pickled cucumbers are another matter: fermented pickles were not measured, and the one fermented vegetable that was, sauerkraut, averaged 43.74 mg/kg.
No histamine in 10 cucumbers. (measured)
Not measured. Fermented vegetables can build up histamine. (estimate)
Why we rate cucumber 0
Fresh cucumber is low in histamine on every measurement we have. A University of Barcelona team tested ten cucumbers sold in Spain and found no histamine and no cadaverine. Putrescine averaged 5.42 mg/kg, ranging from 1.32 to 10.62 mg/kg, and tyramine appeared only in traces, averaging 0.61 mg/kg.
The team's 2018 review gathered results from six other studies of cucumber. None reported histamine. Their putrescine averages ranged from 3.2 to 25 mg/kg; the highest came from a study that gave no sample count, and the rest were under 14 mg/kg. As on our other vegetable pages, we rate from the largest complete measurement, which is the Spanish one.
Storage seems to matter less for cucumber than for some other vegetables. The 2018 review cites a study that kept parsley, courgette, broccoli and cucumber in the fridge for three weeks and found no significant change in histamine, tyramine, putrescine or cadaverine. Spinach, by contrast, gained histamine in the fridge in another study. That does not make a soft, old cucumber a good idea, but it is a reassuring result.
Cucumber does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by the ten published low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review. Because the chart covers only some foods, we say that no diet in our sources excludes it, not that all ten allow it.
Pickles are the catch. Gherkins and pickled cucumbers are sometimes made by fermentation in brine, and fermented vegetables can build up histamine. None were measured in our sources; the closest data is for sauerkraut, which averaged 43.74 mg/kg. We give fermented pickles an estimated 2 and keep the main rating for fresh cucumber at 0, "low".
Questions about cucumber and histamine
Are pickles high in histamine?
They were not measured in the studies we use. Fermented pickles are likely to be higher than fresh cucumber, because fermented vegetables can build up histamine; sauerkraut averaged 43.74 mg/kg. Pickles made with vinegar and not fermented are a different product again, and were not measured either.
Does cucumber go up in histamine in the fridge?
One study kept cucumbers refrigerated for three weeks and found no significant change in histamine or other amines, so on current evidence, no.
Evidence behind this page
- Ten cucumbers sold in Spain had no detectable histamine or cadaverine; putrescine averaged 5.42 mg/kg and tyramine 0.61 mg/kg. 1
- Other studies in the same review reported average putrescine in cucumber from 3.2 to 25 mg/kg and no histamine. 1
- Cucumbers stored in the fridge for three weeks showed no significant change in histamine, tyramine, putrescine or cadaverine. 1
- Five sauerkraut samples averaged 43.74 mg/kg of histamine. 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)