Detection of Veterinary Drugs in Food Using a Portable Mass Spectrometer Coupled with Solid-Phase Microextraction...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Food Science
• Materials Science

Background:

• Veterinary drug residues in food pose significant food safety concerns.
• Current detection methods often require complex instrumentation and lengthy procedures.
• There is a need for rapid, sensitive, and portable methods for on-site analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid, sensitive, and portable method for detecting five specific veterinary drugs in milk and chicken samples.
• To combine a portable mass spectrometer (PMS) with a novel mesoporous silica material (SBA-15) coated solid-phase microextraction (SPME) Arrow.
• To evaluate the performance of the developed method for on-site food safety monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of an SBA-15 coated SPME Arrow using electrospinning.
• Optimization of coating preparation and SPME extraction/desorption conditions.
• Detection of amantadine, thiabendazole, sulfamethazine, clenbuterol, and ractopamine using PMS with a pulsed DC electrospray ionization source and linear ion trap.
• Analysis of milk and chicken samples.

Main Results:

• The SBA-15-SPME Arrow exhibited superior extraction efficiency compared to commercial SPME Arrows.
• The developed method allowed simultaneous detection of five analytes in approximately 30 seconds with minimal sample preparation.
• Achieved low limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) in milk (2.8–9.3 µg kg⁻¹ and 10–28 µg kg⁻¹) and chicken (3.5–11.7 µg kg⁻¹ and 12–35 µg kg⁻¹).
• Recoveries ranged from 85% to 116% in spiked milk and chicken samples.

Conclusions:

• The combined SBA-15-SPME Arrow and PMS method provides a rapid, sensitive, and portable solution for veterinary drug residue detection.
• This approach significantly advances on-site food safety analysis, meeting regulatory requirements.
• The method demonstrates high precision, sensitivity, and applicability for real-world sample analysis.