Are grapes high in histamine?
Grapes are low in histamine: ten samples sold in Spain had none, and putrescine averaged only 2.69 mg/kg. Only one of ten published diets excludes them. Wine made from grapes is a different story.
- 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 samples; putrescine averaged 2.69 mg/kg. |
| Another study in the 2018 review 2 | Two grape samples averaged 9.34 mg/kg of putrescine and 5.93 mg/kg of cadaverine; histamine not reported. | |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 1 | 1 of 10 excludes grapes. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grapes sold in Spain 1 (Table 1) | 10 | not detected | putrescine mean 2.69 mg/kg (1–4.30); cadaverine and tyramine 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
Fresh grapes had no histamine. Raisins and grape juice were not measured. Wine is grapes after fermentation, and it does contain histamine: 299 wines averaged 3.63 mg/L.
No histamine in 10 samples. (measured)
Why we rate grapes 0
Grapes are one of the fruits the measurements and the published diets agree on. A University of Barcelona team tested ten samples of grapes sold in Spain and found no histamine in any of them. There was no cadaverine or tyramine either, and putrescine averaged 2.69 mg/kg, ranging from 1 to 4.30 mg/kg. Only one of the ten low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review excludes grapes.
Another study, collected in the team's 2018 review, tested two grape samples and reported higher putrescine, 9.34 mg/kg, and some cadaverine, 5.93 mg/kg. It did not report histamine. With only two samples and no histamine figure, it does not change the picture from the larger survey. Fruit in general is low: a 2020 review from the same group pooled 136 fruit samples and found an average of 0.07 mg/kg of histamine, with no sample above 2.51 mg/kg.
The interesting contrast is with wine. Wine is made from grapes, yet it contains histamine: 299 wines sold in Spain averaged 3.63 mg/L, and every sample had at least a trace. The difference comes from fermentation. The grapes start with none; the histamine forms as the juice is fermented. Alcohol adds a second problem, because it competes with histamine for the same breakdown enzyme. So "grapes are fine" does not mean "wine is fine", and our wine page rates it higher.
We rate fresh grapes 0, "low". Raisins and grape juice were not measured in the studies we use. Dried fruit has been through more processing and storage than fresh fruit, so we do not carry the fresh-grape rating over to raisins.
Questions about grapes and histamine
Are raisins high in histamine?
Raisins were not measured in the studies we use, so we do not rate them. Fresh grapes had no histamine, but drying and long storage make raisins a different product.
Why are grapes low in histamine but wine high?
Histamine forms during fermentation. Fresh grapes had none, while wine averaged 3.63 mg/L across 299 samples. Alcohol also slows the body's breakdown of histamine.
Evidence behind this page
- Ten samples of grapes sold in Spain had no detectable histamine, cadaverine or tyramine; putrescine averaged 2.69 mg/kg. 1
- One of ten published low-histamine diets excludes grapes. 1
- Another study of two grape samples reported putrescine at 9.34 mg/kg and cadaverine at 5.93 mg/kg. 2
- Across 136 fruit samples, histamine averaged 0.07 mg/kg, and the highest single sample had 2.51 mg/kg. 4
- Wine sold in Spain averaged 3.63 mg/L of histamine across 299 samples. 1
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)
- 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)
- 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)