Abstract: With the aim of developing an optimal sample preparation method for the determination of carotenoids in laying duck liver tissues by high performance liquid chromatography, response surface methodology was employed to optimize the extraction recovery of carotenoids from laying duck liver tissues with respect to three extraction conditions such as temperature, extraction time and KOH concentration. The optimal extraction conditions were achieved as follows: extraction time 90 min, temperature 37 ℃ and KOH concentration 50 g/100 mL. The HPLC method established based on these extraction conditions exhibited a detection limit of 20 ng/mL for carotenoids in the liver and serum laying duck. The mean spike recovery rates for carotenoids in the liver tissues and serum laying duck were 95.21% and 105.50% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 5.71% and 6.73%, respectively.

Key words: egg-laying duck, liver, serum