Analysis of Veterinary Drugs in Chicken Tenders Using the Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer

Importance of the Topic

Veterinary drugs are critical for disease prevention and growth promotion, but residues pose health risks. Regulatory bodies set maximum residue limits to ensure food safety. High-resolution full scan analysis enhances screening and quality control by covering a broad range of compounds in a single run.

Objectives and Study Overview

• Demonstrate comprehensive detection of 39 veterinary drugs in chicken tenders.
• Evaluate full scan performance of the Shimadzu LCMS-9030 QTOF system.
• Assess sample preparation via STQ-LC repeated extraction for routine analysis.

Methodology and Instrumentation

The sample preparation followed the STQ-LC protocol with repeated extraction:

• Freeze and crush 5 g of chicken tenders; spike with standard solution (1 ppm).
• Extract with acetonitrile, water, sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate; centrifuge.
• Combine extracts, adjust to 20 mL; purify using Smart-SPE C18 and PSA cartridges.
• Finalize sample at 0.125 g/mL; each drug concentration at 1.25 ppb.

Instrumentation:

• UHPLC: Nexera X3 with Shim-pack Scepter C18-120 column (2.7 µm, 2.1×150 mm); mobile phases 0.1% formic acid in water/acetonitrile; gradient flow 0.2 mL/min.
• Mass spectrometer: LCMS-9030 quadrupole time-of-flight, ESI positive mode, TOF-MS scan m/z 100–1000; optimized gas flows and temperatures.

Main Results and Discussion

• Extracted ion chromatograms showed clear peaks for all 39 compounds at 2.5 ppb in spiked extract; blanks exhibited minimal interference.
• Calibration curves (0.25–50 ppb) achieved R2 ≥ 0.99 for all analytes both in solvent and extract.
• Spike and recovery at 10 µg/kg (1.25 ppb) yielded 70–120% recovery for 32 compounds, with RSD and mass error within acceptable limits.

Benefits and Practical Applications

• Comprehensive full scan enables simultaneous screening of multiple drug classes without prior selection.
• High mass accuracy and narrow extracted ion chromatograms reduce noise and matrix effects.
• Efficient sample preparation accelerates throughput for routine QA/QC in food safety laboratories.

Future Trends and Application Opportunities

• Integration of high-resolution MS with data-dependent acquisition for untargeted screening and metabolite profiling.
• Automation and miniaturization of sample prep to further increase throughput.
• Application of chemometric and AI tools to process large datasets and discover emerging contaminants.
• Extension to other food matrices and simultaneous pesticide or mycotoxin analyses.

Conclusion

The combination of STQ-LC sample preparation and high-resolution full scan analysis on the LCMS-9030 delivered rapid, simple, and precise quantitation of veterinary drugs in chicken. This workflow supports comprehensive screening with sensitivity and reliability required for regulatory compliance.

Reference

• Shima et al. High-speed simultaneous analysis of veterinary drugs in meat by combining STQ method and LC/MS/MS (Pretreatment edition). Poster presentation at the 114th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Food Hygiene and Safety, 2022.