Is sweet corn high in histamine?
Sweet corn is mostly low in histamine: five lab samples had none, but putrescine, a related amine, averaged 38.44 mg/kg. No published low-histamine diet excludes it.
- Histamine
- Not detected
- Other amines
- Notable levels
- 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 or tyramine in 5 samples; putrescine averaged 38.44 mg/kg. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 2 | None of the 10 exclude sweet corn; the review names it as a high-putrescine food the lists leave in. | |
| Review of amines in plant foods, 2018 1 | Names corn among foods with high putrescine that low-histamine diets permit. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet corn sold in Spain 1 (Table 1) | 5 | not detected | putrescine mean 38.44 mg/kg (30.5–119.2); tyramine not detected; cadaverine mean 0.18 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
The paper does not say whether the corn tested was fresh on the cob, frozen or tinned, and no study we use followed amines in corn during storage. Cooking does not create histamine, and the samples had none to start with.
No histamine in 5 samples; putrescine averaged 38.44 mg/kg. Form not stated. (measured)
Not measured separately. (estimate)
Why we rate sweet corn 1
Sweet corn is a case where histamine and the other amines tell different stories. A University of Barcelona team tested five samples of sweet corn sold in Spain and found no histamine and no tyramine in any of them; cadaverine averaged only 0.18 mg/kg. Putrescine was high. It averaged 38.44 mg/kg, and the table gives a range of 30.5 to 119.2 mg/kg. Among the vegetables the team measured, only green peppers had more, and sweet corn sits level with bananas, which averaged 37.94 mg/kg.
None of the ten published low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review excludes sweet corn. The review points to this as an inconsistency: courgette, peas, green peppers and sweet corn can carry relevant putrescine, yet no list leaves them out, while bananas and citrus fruit are excluded partly for the same amine. The team's 2018 review made the same point about corn, peas and green pepper.
Why does putrescine matter at all? Some researchers think it competes with histamine for DAO, the gut enzyme that breaks histamine down, so a meal rich in putrescine might let more histamine through. The evidence comes from laboratory and animal work, the most recent from 1985. That is why, on our scale, putrescine can move a food up one step and no further.
We rate sweet corn 1, "mostly low": a 0 for histamine, plus one step for putrescine. Five samples is a small number, and the paper does not say whether the corn was fresh on the cob, frozen or tinned, so we cannot tell you which form is lower. Cooking does not create histamine, and corn had none to start with.
If putrescine is not a concern for you, sweet corn is an easy addition to salads, soups and rice dishes. If it is, carrot and cauliflower bring colour and sweetness with far less of it. Popcorn and corn-based foods such as tortillas and polenta are made from other types of corn or processed differently, and these figures do not rate them.
Questions about sweet corn and histamine
Is corn high in histamine?
Not in histamine itself: five samples of sweet corn sold in Spain had none. It is high in putrescine, a related amine, at 38.44 mg/kg on average, which is why we rate it 1 rather than 0.
Is popcorn low histamine?
Popcorn was not measured. It is made from a different type of corn that is dried before cooking, so the sweet corn figures do not carry over. A chocolate corn breakfast cereal, the closest product tested, had no detectable histamine in eight samples.
Evidence behind this page
- Five samples of sweet corn sold in Spain had no detectable histamine or tyramine; putrescine averaged 38.44 mg/kg (range given as 30.5–119.2) and cadaverine 0.18 mg/kg. 1
- The 2021 review names courgette, peas, green peppers and sweet corn as foods with relevant putrescine that low-histamine diets do not exclude. 2
- The 2018 review notes that green pepper, peas and corn, with putrescine similar to or higher than excluded foods, are permitted in low-histamine diets. 1
- The idea that putrescine blocks histamine breakdown rests on in vitro and animal studies, the latest from 1985. 2
- A chocolate corn breakfast cereal sold in Spain had no detectable histamine in eight samples. 1
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)