Solid-Phase Extraction and Large-Volume Sample Stacking-Capillary Electrophoresis for Determination of Tetracycline Residues in Milk

Solid-phase extraction in combination with large-volume sample stacking-capillary electrophoresis (SPE-LVSS-CE) was applied to measure chlortetracycline, doxycycline, oxytetracycline, and tetracycline in milk samples. Under optimal conditions, the proposed method had a linear range of 29 to 200 mu g.L-1, with limits of detection ranging from 18.6 to 23.8 mu g.L-1 with inter- and intraday repeatabilities < 10% (as a relative standard deviation) in all cases. The enrichment factors obtained were from 50.33 to 70.85 for all the TCs compared with a conventional capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). This method is adequate to analyze tetracyclines below the most restrictive established maximum residue limits. The proposed method was employed in the analysis of 15 milk samples from different brands. Two of the tested samples were positive for the presence of oxytetracycline with concentrations of 95 and 126 mu g.L-1. SPE-LVSS-CE is a robust, easy, and efficient strategy for online preconcentration of tetracycline residues in complex matrices.