Determination of putrescine and cadaverine in seafood (finfish and shellfish) by liquid chromatography using pyrene excimer fluorescence.

A liquid chromatography (LC) method is described for the easy determination of the biogenic diamines putrescine (PUT) and cadaverine (CAD) in canned tuna, frozen tuna loin, fresh mahimahi fillet, frozen raw shrimp, cooked lump crabmeat, and fresh and cold-smoked salmon. The method is also a useful screen for histamine (HTA). The method involves homogenization of fish tissue, extraction of biogenic amines into borate-trichloroacetic acid solution, centrifugation, and derivatization of supernatant with 1-pyrenebutanoic acid succinimidyl ester. The derivatized diamine species allow for the intramolecular excimer fluorescence of the pyrene moiety at a higher emission wavelength than is possible for the endogenous tissue monoamines, thus providing visual specificity of detection. All seafood species were fortified with 0.5, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, and 15.0 microg/g (ppm) of PUT and CAD. Determination was based on standard graphs for PUT and CAD using peak areas with standard solutions equivalent to 0.375, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, and 20.0 ppm in tissue. A set of five matrix controls (unfortified seafood tissue) were also analyzed; endogenous PUT was found in all samples except the canned tuna, and CAD found only in the shrimp, crab, and cold-smoked salmon. The background amines were thus subtracted prior to determining spike recovery. The intra-assay average recoveries ranged from 71 to 94% across species and spike levels.

Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry analysis of chloramphenicol in cooked crab meat.

A liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method is described for the extraction, cleanup, determination, and confirmation of chloramphenicol (CAP) in cooked crab meat. The method involves pulverization of cooked crab meat with dry ice; extraction of the CAP into ethyl acetate (EtOAc); evaporation (by N2) of the EtOAc; addition of methanol, aqueous NaCl, and heptane; extraction of the lipids into the heptane, followed by extraction of the aqueous phase with EtOAc; evaporation (by N2) of the EtOAc; dissolution into methanol-water; filtration; and separation/detection/confirmation using LC/MS/MS. Crab meat was fortified at 0.25, 0.50, and 1.0 ng/g (ppb) chloramphenicol. Average absolute recoveries were 67, 84, and 86%, respectively, with relative standard deviation values all less than 1%. Four daughter ions (m/z 152, 176, 194, and 257) were monitored off the m/z 321 precursor ion. Determination was based on a standard curve using the peak areas of the m/z 152 daughter ion (the base peak) for standard solutions equivalent to 0.10, 0.20, 0.50, and 1.0 ppb in tissue (made with control crab extract). A set of 6 matrix controls (unfortified crab meat) was also analyzed, in which no chloramphenicol was detected. For identification purposes, the ion ratios (of each daughter ion versus the base daughter ion) of the fortified crab versus those of the chloramphenicol standards agreed within 10% (relative) at fortified chloramphenicol concentrations of 0.25-1.0 ppb.

Complexities in tetracycline analysis-chemistry, matrix extraction, cleanup, and liquid chromatography.

The extraction and cleanup of commonly used tetracyclines (oxytetracycline, tetracycline, chlortetracycline, and doxycycline) from sample matrix, and their subsequent determination via liquid chromatography can be problematic. Many manuscripts report on various challenges encountered when developing a method for tetracycline antibiotics determination. These complexities often result in less than perfect recoveries or chromatograms and are based on the underlying chemistry associated with tetracyclines. This review compiles, compares, and discusses the results and observations found in published methods, while focusing on chemical principles in order to increase the practicing chemist's understanding of TCs to aid him/her in developing useful analyses.

Determination of oxytetracycline in salmon by liquid chromatography with metal-chelate fluorescence detection.

A liquid chromatography (LC) method is described for the determination of oxytetracycline (OTC) in farmed Atlantic salmon muscle tissue. The method involves homogenization of salmon tissue, extraction of OTC into Mcllvaine-EDTA buffer, acid precipitation of proteins, cleanup through tandem solid-phase extraction cartridges (Strata-X and aminopropyl), elution with mobile phase containing slightly alkaline buffer and Mg2+, and LC separation with metal-chelate induced fluorescence detection. Salmon tissue was fortified with 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0 microg/g (ppm) oxytetracycline. Average absolute recoveries were 84, 76, 70, 76, and 85%, respectively, with relative standard deviation (RSD) values all less than 9%. The interassay average recovery was 78%, with a 4.2% RSD. Determination was based on a standard graph using peak areas with standard solutions equivalent to 0.0625, 0.125, 0.25, 0.50, and 1.0 ppm in tissue. A set of 5 matrix controls (unfortified salmon tissue) were also analyzed, in which no OTC was detected. The lowest standard was used as the limit of quantitation.

Determination of deoxynivalenol in whole wheat flour and wheat bran.

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method was developed for determining deoxynivalenol (DON) in whole wheat flour and wheat bran. A 15 g test sample was extracted with acetonitrile-water (84 + 16, v/v) and applied to a Romer MycoSep cleanup column. The eluate was dried and then reconstituted in a 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.0, and applied to a Vicam DONtest-LC cleanup column. The methanol eluate was chromatographed with a methanol-water (17 + 83, v/v) mobile phase on a C18 column with UV detection at 220 nm. Five replicates at each of 5 fortification levels (0.25, 0.50, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 ppm), plus 5 controls, were determined for both whole wheat flour and wheat bran. For flour, the average recoveries were 72.2-91.5% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 4.9-18.4%. The intra-assay flour recovery was 82.4% with 9.8% RSD. A 5 replicate sample of naturally incurred wheat had an average of 1.1 ppm DON with 6.7% RSD. For bran, average recoveries of fortified samples were 69.5-99.7% with RSDs of 1.7-18.8%. The intra-assay bran recovery was 81.5% with 8.9% RSD. The limit of detection (about 3x noise) for the method is 0.05 ppm; the correlation coefficient (linearity) was >0.9995. The DON peak was clearly identified and easily integrated in the chromatograms.

Hplc detection of patulin in apple juice with GC/MS confirmation of patulin identity.

The official patulin LC procedure was further examined (AOAC 995.10). Juice or juice concentrate was extracted with ethyl acetate and cleaned up with sodium carbonate. Patulin in the dried extract was determined by reversed-phase LC with UV detection (280 nm) in 1% THF aqueous solution after evaporation of the ethyl acetate. An end-capped C18 column was required to separate patulin from hydroxymethylfurfural. Patulin was detected in approximately half of the >1000 extracts examined. Only ca 10% of the extracts contained patulin at levels greater than 50 microg/L (50 ppb). Some presumptive findings were confirmed by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry as the trimethyl silyl derivative using electron ionization or as underivatized patulin using negative ion chemical ionization. Trifluoropropylmethyl polysiloxane capillary columns provided superior gas chromatography of underivatized patulin compared to phenyl/methyl polysiloxane and methyl polysiloxane columns.