Greener Surfactant-Assisted Microextraction Method for the Determination of Fluoroquinolones in Chicken Livers by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

A simple and environmentally friendly surfactant-assisted microextraction method combined with high-performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection was developed for the determination of six fluoroquinolones in chicken livers. In the method, the analytes were transported into the hydrophobic extraction by ionic and nonionic surfactants. Three different surfactants were studied for this purpose, cationic Methyltrioctyl ammonium chloride (Aliquat 336), anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and nonionic trioctyl phosphine oxide (TOPO). Under optimum conditions, the limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) obtained using anionic surfactant ranged from 5 to 23 µg kg-1 and 15 to 78 µg kg-1 respectively. The LODs obtained from using cationic surfactant ranged from 9 to 21 µg kg-1 while the LOQs ranged from 31 to 71 µg kg-1. The LODs obtained from the method using nonionic surfactant ranged from 9 to 20 µg kg-1 and the LOQs ranged from 29 to 67 µg kg-1. Surfactant assisted-dispersive liquid liquid microextraction using SDS and Aliquat 336 were statistically compared and no significant statistical difference was observed between the two methods. The results obtained in this study indicate that the proposed method is cost-effective and environmentally friendly for the extraction and determination of fluoroquinolones in solid biological samples.