Abstract:

A HPLC-MS/MS method was established for the simultaneous determination of florfenicol (FF) and florfenicol amine (FA) residues in fish. Samples were extracted with alkalinified ethyl acetate and cleaned up by liquid-liquid extraction with n-hexane. Both positive and negative electrospray ionization sources were selected and multiple reaction monitor (MRM) mode was used. Internal standard method was used for quantification. The limits of detection of the method established were 1 μg/kg for FF and 5μg/kg for FA. Average recovery rates for FF and FA spiked at low, medium and high levels ranged from 87.0% to 110.4%, with a relative standard deviation of less than 6.2%. The method is simple, fast, efficient and highly selective.

Key words: florfenicol, florfenicol amine, HPLC-MS/MS method, fish