Simultaneous determination of five tetracycline and macrolide antibiotics in feeds using HPCE

This work demonstrates the potential of HPCE in the analysis of antibiotics in a complex matrix such as feedstuffs. Using 20 mM citric acid-40 mM Na(2)HPO(4) buffer (pH 2.65), the five antibiotics, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, doxycycline, tilmicosin, and tylosin were successfully separated at 30 kV in a 64.5 cm x 75 microm id capillary. Good repeatability, stability, and reliability of the method were supported by <10% CV with mean recoveries of >70%, and the limit of detection of the five analytes was 0.5-1 mg/kg. It was for the first time that a capillary electrophoretic method was employed to simultaneously detect five tetracycline and macrolide antibiotics in animal feeds.