A pass-through solid-phase extraction clean-up method for the determination of 11 quinolone antibiotics in chicken meat and egg samples using ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

The major challenges in determination of antibiotic residues in foods stem from the complexity of matrix, as well as from polar differences and low concentrations of antibiotics. In this study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method has been developed for the determination of 11 quinolone antibiotics in chicken meat and egg samples using a pass-through solid phase extraction (SPE) cleanup procedure. The samples were treated with optimized acetonitrile/water solution to precipitate proteins, release and extract the target antibiotics. Then, fats and phospholipids were removed by a pass-through SPE cleanup procedure. Subsequently, highly sensitive determination and confirmation of 11 quinolones was accomplished by UPLC-MS/MS in the positive ionization mode with multiple reaction monitoring. Through the protocol, recoveries in chicken meat ranging from 70.4 to 98.4%, while in egg samples between 66.9 and 99.0%, with a low limit of detection ranged from 0.1 to 0.16 μg/kg. Finally, the method has been successfully utilized for the screening of eleven quinolones antibiotics residues in 60 chicken meat and 110 eggs samples from the local markets. Enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were detected in both chicken meat and eggs samples with the highest concentrations of 44.4 μg/kg and 6.22 μg/kg, respectively.