Determination of the muscle residue levels and withdrawal time of florfenicol in healthy and experimentallyLactococcus garvieaeinfected rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum 1792) grown in the Black Sea water

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine, muscle residue level (MRL) and withdrawal time (WT) of florfenicol (FF), in healthy and infected rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with Lactococcus garvieae. Fish were divided into the four groups, Group I (Infected fish fed with FF free diet, n = 10), Group II (Healthy fish fed with FF free diet, n = 10), Group III (Infected fish fed with FF containing diet, n = 80) and Group IV (Healthy fish fed with FF containing diet, n = 80). Fish in Group I and Group III were infected with 1.8×10⁶ cfu/ml Lactococcus garvieae by immersion. FF containing diet was applied fish (10 mg kg‐¹ day‐¹) in Group III and IV for 10 days. FF residues in fish muscles were analysed by validated HPLC method. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values of the method were determined to be 0.31 μg/g and 0.64 μg/g, respectively, and the recovery was 92.61%. As a result of the experiments, there was no significant difference between the infected and healthy group in term of MRLs. However, in both groups, it was determined that third‐day values were below MRLs (1,000 μg/kg). Also, the WT values were lower than the 500°C‐day values reported in the EC commission decision in both groups and were determined as 14.5 and 14.12 (water temperature mean 18°C ± 1) per day, respectively.