Occurrence of erythromycin and its degradation products residues in honey. Validation of an analytical method

Erythromycin A, the main component of erythromycin, is widely used to treat and control foulbrood diseases in honey bees. In this study, we developed a fast and sensitive method to simultaneously determine erythromycin A and its degradation products in honey. The analytical methodology was based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry with advanced i-Funnel technology. The liquid-liquid microextraction and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry parameters were optimized. The recoveries of erythromycin A and its degradation products from spiked honey samples were 76.1-102.1%, with reproducibility rates of 7.1-13.1% and correlation coefficients  >0.99. The decision limit and detection capability were 0.02-0.07 and 0.03-0.10 ng/g, respectively. The proposed method was validated and successfully applied to the determination of the target analytes in commercial honey samples. It was efficient and sensitive, and it lays the foundation for further research on honey safety.