[Development of a Multi-Residue Analytical Method for Veterinary Drugs, Including Four Tetracyclines, in Pig Muscle...

The distribution of livestock products containing veterinary drugs exceeding the residue standards established under the Food Sanitation Act is prohibited. The freshness and quality of livestock products deteriorate over time, necessitating rapid and highly precise inspection methods. In this study, a multiresidue method for determination of veterinary drugs in pig muscle was developed, with a focus on tetracycline antibiotics, which account for a large proportion of total veterinary drug sales. To achieve rapid analysis, the QuEChERS method was employed as the basis for extraction, and membrane filtration (SPEEDIA) was used for sample cleanup. The extraction conditions (solvent type, chelating agent concentration, and pH) and the purification process were optimized. As a result, the trueness of the four tetracycline antibiotics (n=12) ranged from 97 to 111% at the spiking level of 0.01 mg/kg and from 84 to 111% at 0.1 mg/kg. In addition, it was confirmed that approximately 90% of all compounds in pig muscle samples satisfied the target criteria for recovery and precision specified in the method validation guidelines. Furthermore, the comparison with the official method demonstrated that sample pretreatment time and organic solvent consumption could be significantly reduced. These findings suggest that the proposed method is a useful, rapid, and simple analytical approach for the simultaneous determination of multiple veterinary drugs in pig muscle.