Is edamame high in histamine?

Edamame is probably mostly low in histamine, but it was not measured. Mature soybeans had no histamine and notable putrescine, so we rate edamame the same as soybeans, as an estimate.

Mostly low

Fine for many people. Rated 1 of 3. Not measured: rated from how it is made and stored.

1 of 10 published low-histamine diets exclude soybeans¹

Histamine: Not measured
Other amines: Not measured
Liberator: Not on the lists we use
DAO blocker: No evidence

General information, not medical advice. Histamine tolerance differs between people; talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before changing your diet.

What each source says

Source	Verdict	What it says, in our words
Lab measurements of mature soybeans, Spain ¹	Caution	No detectable histamine in 5 samples of soybeans; putrescine averaged 19.07 mg/kg. Edamame itself was not tested.
10 published low-histamine diets ¹	Mostly fine	1 of 10 excludes soybeans; edamame is not named.
Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 ²	Caution	Fewer than 20% of the diets it compared exclude soybeans.
SIGHI food list ³	See source	See SIGHI's own list for its rating.

How freshness and processing change it

Edamame is often sold frozen. For frozen peas, a study linked high putrescine to bacteria acting between harvest and freezing or during thawing; nobody has checked edamame, but cooking it straight from frozen and eating it the same day keeps the guesswork small.

Frozen edamame, cooked from frozen and eaten fresh1Mostly low

Not measured; rated like mature soybeans. (estimate)

Cooked edamame kept for several days2Moderate

Not measured; storage gives bacteria time to act. (estimate)

Dry-roasted edamame snacks1Mostly low

Not measured. (estimate)

Why we rate edamame 1

Edamame are soybeans picked young and green, usually boiled in the pod or sold shelled. No study we use measured them, for histamine or anything else, so this page is an estimate built from the nearest measured food and it says so at the top.

That food is the mature soybean. A University of Barcelona team tested five samples of soybeans sold in Spain and found no histamine, but notable putrescine (19.07 mg/kg on average), cadaverine (9.04 mg/kg) and a lot of spermidine (99.55 mg/kg). Their 2018 review explains that putrescine in plants can be physiological rather than a sign of spoilage. It links the high levels in soybean sprouts and wheat germ to germination and fast cell division. A young, still-growing bean may therefore not match a mature dried one, and we do not know which way edamame would go.

Two other points shape the estimate. Edamame is not fermented, and fermentation is where the high histamine in soy foods comes from: fermented soy products averaged 73.95 mg/kg in the same survey, while the plain beans had none. And edamame is often sold frozen. For frozen peas, a study found putrescine averaging 46.3 mg/kg, and its authors linked it to bacteria acting between harvest and freezing, or during thawing. The same may or may not apply to edamame; it has not been tested.

We rate edamame 1, "mostly low", as an estimate: the same as mature soybeans, because borrowing their putrescine is more cautious than assuming edamame has none. The 2021 chart of ten published low-histamine diets has no bar for edamame; one of the ten excludes soybeans, and a 2020 review found fewer than one diet in five does.

Cook frozen edamame straight from the freezer and eat it the same day. If you want a soy food with measurements behind it, plain tofu had no histamine and very little of the other amines in six samples.

Questions about edamame and histamine

Is edamame low histamine?

It was not measured. Mature soybeans had no detectable histamine but notable putrescine, so we rate edamame 1, "mostly low", as an estimate.

Is edamame fermented soy?

No. Edamame is fresh or frozen young soybeans. The high histamine figures for soy come from fermented products such as miso and tempeh, not from the beans.

Evidence behind this page

Five samples of mature soybeans sold in Spain had no detectable histamine; putrescine averaged 19.07 mg/kg, cadaverine 9.04 mg/kg and spermidine 99.55 mg/kg. ¹
Putrescine in plant foods can have a physiological origin; the 2018 review links high levels in soybean sprouts and wheat germ to germination and fast cell division. ⁴
Frozen peas averaged 46.3 mg/kg of putrescine in one study, attributed to bacterial activity between harvesting and freezing or during thawing. ⁴
Soy-fermented products sold in Spain averaged 73.95 mg/kg of histamine (21 samples). ¹
One of ten published low-histamine diets excludes soybeans; a 2020 review found fewer than 20% of diets do. ¹²

Sources

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)
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)
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)
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)