Is orange high in histamine?
Orange is mostly low in histamine: none was found in tested oranges, but they are among the richest foods in putrescine, a related amine, and 6 of 10 published diets exclude citrus.
- Histamine
- Not detected
- Other amines
- Notable levels
- Liberator
- Claimed, unproven
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
Why sources disagree. No citrus sample in the lab surveys had detectable histamine, but six of ten published diets exclude citrus fruit. Oranges do carry a lot of putrescine, a related amine.
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Lab measurements, Spain 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 12 oranges; putrescine averaged 91.24 mg/kg. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 2 | 6 of 10 exclude citrus fruits. | |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 3 | Suggests reactions to citrus may come from putrescine rather than histamine. | |
| SIGHI food list 4 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranges sold in Spain 1 (Table 2) | 12 | not detected | putrescine mean 91.24 mg/kg (11.34–151.1); tyramine not detected |
| Citrus fruits sold in Spain (group) 2 (Table 1) | 38 | not detected | putrescine mean 79.75 mg/kg, up to 173.81 mg/kg |
| Orange juice (another study) 1 (Table 2) | 11 | mean 0.46 mg/kg, range nd–1.32 mg/kg | putrescine mean 45.51 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
Fresh oranges keep well and we found no study showing histamine forming in them during storage. Juice is a processed form: one study of 11 orange juices found traces in some (up to 1.32 mg/kg), and about half the putrescine of whole fruit.
No histamine; putrescine averaged 91.24 mg/kg. (measured)
Traces of histamine in some juices (up to 1.32 mg/kg); putrescine about 45 mg/kg. (measured)
Why we rate orange 1
Oranges are the clearest example of a food that low-histamine lists exclude without measured histamine to justify it. A University of Barcelona team tested twelve oranges sold in Spain and found no histamine in any of them. Their 2021 review, covering 38 citrus fruits in all, found none either. Yet six of the ten published low-histamine diets in that review exclude citrus fruit, and the authors point to this directly as a case where the lists and the measurements part ways.
What oranges do contain is putrescine, a related amine, in large amounts. The twelve oranges averaged 91.24 mg/kg and reached 151.1 mg/kg, the highest average of any fruit the team measured, level with mandarins at 90.16 mg/kg. Some researchers think putrescine competes with histamine for diamine oxidase (DAO), the gut enzyme that breaks histamine down. A 2020 review from the same group suggests this may explain why some people react to citrus. The evidence behind the idea is thin, though: the only study the group's 2021 review could find on it was done in rats, in 1985.
Orange juice follows the same pattern with a twist. One study of eleven orange juices found traces of histamine in some, averaging 0.46 mg/kg and reaching 1.32 mg/kg, which is still very low. Putrescine in juice averaged about 45 mg/kg, roughly half the level in the whole fruit.
We rate orange 1, "mostly low", and mark it disputed. The putrescine level is high enough to move it up one step on our scale, but not further, because there is no histamine to speak of. If you are early in a strict elimination phase and your dietitian has asked you to drop citrus, that advice still stands. If citrus has never bothered you, the measurements give no histamine reason to fear it.
Questions about orange and histamine
Is orange juice high in histamine?
No. One study of 11 orange juices found an average of 0.46 mg/kg and a maximum of 1.32 mg/kg, which is low. Juice does contain putrescine, about 45 mg/kg on average.
Why do low-histamine lists exclude citrus?
Not because of measured histamine, which was absent in tested citrus. The usual explanation is putrescine, which oranges contain in large amounts; its effect on histamine breakdown has not been shown in people.
Evidence behind this page
- Twelve oranges sold in Spain had no detectable histamine and averaged 91.24 mg/kg of putrescine (up to 151.1). 1
- Across 38 citrus fruits, histamine was not detected and putrescine averaged 79.75 mg/kg; despite that, six of ten published diets exclude citrus. 2
- A 2020 review suggests that symptoms after citrus may be due to other amines, especially putrescine. 3
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)
- 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)