Application of QuEChERS Method In the Detection of Drug Residues In Foods of Animal Origin

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Over the years, with the consistently high-quality, professional-level technical services and excellent reputation of the products, HAWACH has won the praise of domestic and foreign customers, products ranging from SPE/FLASH/HPLC columns, vacuum filtration, membrane filter, bottle-top dispenser, syringe filter, extraction thimble, sample vial, filter paper and etc. Also, HAWACH provides flexible QuEChERS kits, including centrifuge tubes, extraction tubes, purification tubes, and reagent bags of different specifications, to help you quickly establish standard-compliant detection methods.

QuEChERS highlights
Compared with traditional solid phase extraction and other methods, the QuEChERS method is fast, efficient, environmentally friendly, stable, and durable, and has been used in animal-derived foods including antibiotics, pesticides, and illegal drugs. With the further development and improvement of the QuEChERS method, it will become the most convenient and commonly used method in the field of drug residue analysis in the future.

Detection of drug residues in foods of animal origin
At present, there are hundreds of drugs that may have residual risks in the livestock and poultry and aquaculture processes, so there is an urgent need to establish an efficient, simple, stable, and reliable detection method. The QuEChERS method is a promising choice for solving this problem.
Veterinary medicine can prevent and treat animal diseases and is widely used in livestock and poultry farming. Its residue in animal food will bring greater risks to food safety. The public report on the detection of veterinary drug residues in animal tissues using the QuEChERS method was first seen in 2005. Fagerquist et al. used the QuEChERS method to detect β-lactam antibiotic residues in cattle kidneys. Water and acetonitrile were used as extraction reagents, and C18 was used as an adsorbent for fast removal and then analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS / MS).

Pérez-Burgos et al. found that beef samples were extracted by the QuEChERS method, and then added C18, PSA, and MgSO4 for d-SPE adsorption purification. Finally, the LC-MS / MS was used to analyze and detect cephalosporin antibiotics. The results show that, compared with the traditional SPE method, the new method has higher sensitivity and can meet the requirements of relevant EU regulations.

Antiparasitic drugs
Antiparasitic drugs are also commonly used in livestock and poultry farming, and their residual animal-derived foods will also cause great harm to human health, so they need to be included in the scope of supervision and testing. Kinsella et al. used a modified QuEChERS method to detect the insect-repellent metal and its sulfone derivatives in lamb and goat milk. A one-step enrichment process was added to the method to improve sensitivity. Graded mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS / MS) analysis showed that the recovery rates of the two targets were 108% -109%, and good chromatographic separation results were obtained within 13 minutes.

Prohibited feed additives
The QuEChERS method can also be used for residue detection of prohibited feed additives. The Brazilian research team uses the QuEChERS-LC-MS / MS method, which can complete the quantitative detection of ractopamine in pork in just 4.5 minutes. Compared with the traditional method of sample extraction by liquid-liquid extraction and GC-MS or LC-MS, the detection time is greatly reduced. The method has the characteristics of a short detection time and a high recovery rate (70% -110%). By using acidified acetonitrile (0.1% acetic acid) for extraction, the detection limit can be as low as 1.5μg·kg- 1.

Xiong et al. used a similar QuEChERS-LC-MS / MS method to detect 10 β-receptor agonists, including ractopamine, in beef and lamb but used DVB-NVP-SO3Na as the adsorption in d-SPE and pre-concentration step is increased. As a result, the method sensitivity is improved, and the detection limit can be reduced to 0.3μg·kg-1.

Conclusion
The QuEChERS method was initially only used in the detection of pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits. However, with the development of technology, this method has been successfully used in the detection of pesticide residues in foods of animal origin. For example, the detection of organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticide residues in lamb, and the detection of multiple pesticide residues in beef and beef fat. The fat samples need to be added with n-hexane for degreasing and then analyzed by MS or ECD detector.

The recovery rate is 70% -129%, RSD <20%. In addition to organochlorine pesticides, PCBs are another type of organic substances that are difficult to decompose and cause pollution to meat. An optimized QuEChERS-GC-MS method was successfully used for the analysis of PCB residues in meat products. This method uses ultrasonic extraction to improve the extraction efficiency of the target substance, which can make LOQs reach 1.3 ng·g- 1 and below, at the same time can obtain a higher recovery rate, which is a low-cost, environmentally friendly analytical method for the detection of PCB residues.