Determination of Chloramphenicol Residues in Aquatic Products Using Immunoaffinity Column Cleanup and High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Ultraviolet Detection

Abstract

Abstract A method based on HPLC with UV detection was developed for the quantitative determination of chloramphenicol (CAP) residues in aquatic products. The samples were extracted with ethyl acetate–ammonium hydroxide (98 + 2, v/v), followed by a cleanup step using an immunoaffinity column. The analytes were determined by HPLC-UV. Optimal conditions for the extraction and cleanup procedures are described. The linear regression equation was y = 91.47x – 8.60 with R2 = 0.9998 (y = peak area and x = CAP concentration) and showed a good reproducibility. The LOQ was 0.25 μg/kg for determining CAP spiked in the aquatic products. The mean recoveries of CAP from fish and shrimp samples fortified at 0.25–1.0 μg/kg were 88.7–93.1 and 92.0–97.3%, respectively; the repeatability RSDs were less than 8.1%. It was concluded that the method is simple, highly sensitive, and low cost for quantitatively measuring CAP residues in aquatic products. Analyte identification was confirmed by HPLC/MS/MS analysis.