Cylinder plate assay for determining bacitracin in premix feeds and finished feeds: collaborative study

A cylinder plate assay procedure was studied by 10 laboratories. For premix feeds, 3 samples of bacitracin methylene disalicylic acid and 3 samples of bacitracin zinc premixes covering the range of 10 to 50 g/lb were used. The repeatability standard deviation was 2.11, and the reproducibility standard deviation was 2.13. The average recovery of bacitracin was 101.5%. The method has been adopted official first action. For finished feeds, 6 samples of bacitracin methylene disalicylic acid and 6 samples of bacitracin zinc covering the range of 10 to 800 g/ton were used in the study. The procedure included a sample cleanup step using disposable reverse phase columns. This step appears to be the cause of the poor results reported by most collaborators. Continued study is needed to develop an acceptable method for finished feeds.