Abstract: This study aimed to establish a method for simultaneous qualitative and quantitative analysis of three catecholamines (CAs) in livestock meat by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The samples were homogenized, extracted with perchloric acid solution, and purified on a PCX solid phase extraction cartridge. The chromatographic separation was achieved on an HILIC Plus column (4.6 mm × 100 mm, 3.5 μm) using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and formic acid in water (1:99, V/V). The analytes were ionized by positive electrospray (ESI+), detected in the multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) and quantified by the external standard method. The results indicated that a good linearity over the concentration range of 40–1 000 ng/mL was observed for all the analytes with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 10 and 40 μg/kg, respectively. The average recoveries of the CAs ranged from 75.48% to 91.25% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 1.2%–4.6% (n = 6). The method is sensitive, simple, rapid and accurate and can meet the requirements for practical analysis.

Key words: catecholamines, livestock meat, β adrenergic agonist, solid phase extraction, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry