Analysis of tetracyclines in shrimp samples based on a two-step extraction approach prior to high-performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

This study presents a sensitive and reliable method for determining tetracycline (TC), oxytetracycline (OTC), and chlortetracycline (CTC) residues in shrimp samples. A two-step process involving liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) was developed prior to HPLC analysis. The target analytes were effectively extracted using EDTA/McIlvaine buffer (pH 4.0): methanol (80:20, %v/v), with subsequent clean-up using a C18 SPE cartridge. HPLC separation was conducted on a C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm) at 30 °C, using 0.01 % trifluoroacetic acid (A) and acetonitrile (B) as the mobile phase. A gradient elution protocol was applied, transitioning from 85(A):15(B) %v/v to 70(A):30(B) %v/v at 7 min, with a 5 min hold, followed by adjustment to 85(A):15(B) %v/v for 13-14 min. The detection was performed using photodiode array (PDA) at 365 nm with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The calibration curves exhibited good linearity within a concentration range of 0.4-6.0 µg/mL (R2 ˃ 0.995). The limits of detection (LOD) for TC, OTC, and CTC in shrimp were 0.034, 0.029, and 0.021 µg/mL, respectively. The limits of quantitation (LOQ) for TC, OTC, and CTC were found to be 0.114, 0.097, and 0.071 µg/mL, respectively. Recoveries of TC, OTC, and CTC from spiked shrimp samples ranged from 91.0 % to 95.5 %, 92.4 % to 97.2 %, and 93.3 % to 96.6 %, respectively. This method was successfully applied to the determination of TC, OTC, and CTC residues in shrimp samples sourced from various local markets