Determination of chloramphenicol residues in eggs by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

A rapid and sensitive HPLC method for the determination of chloramphenicol (CAP) residues in albumin and yolk of eggs is described. Conditions of isolation and identification are presented in detail. The detection limit is 10 ppb and the linearity is very good up to 2500 ppb CAP. The recovery of the method is 82 and 77%, and the precision is 6.6 and 11.1% for the albumin and yolk determinations respectively. The method was tested to quantitate CAP residues in eggs of 5 laying hens to which CAP had been administered in feed at a concentration of 800 mg/kg. CAP was detected in albumin and yolk of eggs laid 3 and 8 days after the CAP administration, respectively.