Improved Method for the Determination of Cyanuric Acid in Animal Feed by GC–MS

Abstract

A specific and sensitive analytical method for the quantitative determination of cyanuric acid in animal feed was developed. Sample preparation involved the diethylamine/acetonitrile/water extraction of feed using sonication and shaking. The extract was subjected to clean-up by dual solid phase extraction using mixed mode anionic and cationic extraction cartridges. After removal of clean-up solvent, cyanuric acid was converted to a tert-butyldimethylsilyl derivative and was determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry in the selected ion monitoring mode. 13C315N3-cyanuric acid was employed as the internal standard. The calibration curve was found to be linear up to 4 mg kg−1. LOD and LOQ were determined to be 0.06 to 0.4 mg kg−1 for fish and chicken feed. The mean recovery of cyanuric acid was 96 to 98% with relative pooled standard deviation of 1.8–7.4% in the range of 0.5 to 100 mg kg−1 for fish and chicken feed. The validated method was applicable for analysing cyanuric acid in animal feed.