[Capillary electrophoretic analysis of amnesic shellfish toxin--domoic acid]

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Marine Biology
• Food Safety

Context:

• Marine red tides can produce potent biotoxins, including domoic acid, which poses a significant risk to shellfish consumers.
• Amnesic shellfish toxin (AST) is one of four major marine red tide biotoxins, with domoic acid being its primary component.
• Accurate and sensitive detection methods are crucial for monitoring shellfish contamination and ensuring public health.

Purpose:

• To develop and validate a capillary electrophoresis (CE) method for the quantitative determination of domoic acid in shellfish.
• To establish optimal conditions for CE analysis, including sample preparation and chromatographic parameters.
• To assess the method's linearity, detection limit, accuracy, and precision for reliable domoic acid quantification.

Summary:

• Domoic acid was extracted from shellfish using solvent extraction and purified with strong anion-exchange (SAX) and cation-exchange (SCX) cartridges.
• Quantitative analysis was performed using capillary electrophoresis with UV detection under optimized conditions.
• The method demonstrated good linearity (0.2-50 mg/L, r=0.9990), a low detection limit (0.063 mg/L), and high recoveries (96.92-97.55%) with low relative standard deviations (1.95-2.74%) upon spiking.
• Analysis of five types of shellfish from the Dalian sea area confirmed the method's applicability.

Impact:

• Provides a simple, convenient, sensitive, and low-cost method for routine monitoring of amnesic shellfish toxin in seafood.
• Contributes to enhanced food safety protocols by enabling reliable detection of harmful marine biotoxins.
• Supports regulatory agencies in safeguarding public health against shellfish poisoning events caused by domoic acid.