Determination of avermectins: A QuEChERS approach to the analysis of food samples

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 181; pp. 57 - 63
• Main Authors: Rúbies, A., Antkowiak, S., Granados, M., Companyó, R., Centrich, F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.08.2015
• Subjects: Avermectins; Chromatography, Liquid; Food Analysis; Ivermectin - analogs & derivatives; Ivermectin - chemistry; Liquid chromatography; Mass Spectrometry; Molecular Structure; Muscle samples; Quadrupole-orbitrap; Tandem Mass Spectrometry - methods; Triple quadrupole; Triple quadrupole; Avermectins; Liquid chromatography; Muscle samples; Quadrupole-orbitrap; Mass spectrometry
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.02.067

•A QuEChERS approach to extract avermectins from meat is proposed.•Quantification is performed by LC–QqQ–MS/MS with ESI negative ionization.•Meat samples from different species can be analyzed with a unique calibration curve.•The method has been validated and applied to proficiency tests with good results.•HRMS detection (Q-Orbitrap) provides excellent selectivity and sensitivity. We present a simple method for extracting avermectines from meat, based on a QuEChERS approach followed by liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to triple quadrupole (QqQ) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The compounds considered are ivermectin, abamectin, emamectin, eprinomectin, doramectin and moxidectin. The new method has been fully validated according to the requirements of European Decision 657/2002/CE (EU, 2002). The method is suitable for the analysis of avermectins at concentration as low as 2.5μgkg−1, and allows high sample throughput. In addition, the detection of avermectins by high resolution mass spectrometry using a quadrupole-Orbritrap (Q-Orbitrap) hybrid instrument has been explored, and the target Selected Ion Monitoring data dependent MS/MS (t-SIM-dd MS/MS) mode has been found to provide excellent performance for residue determination of target analytes.