Comparison of Solid-Phase Microextraction to Solvent Extraction and QuEChERS for Quantitative Analysis of Veterinary Drug Residues in Chicken and Beef Matrices

Abstract

A fully automated high-throughput method using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was developed and validated for quantitative analysis of more than 100 veterinary drugs in chicken and beef tissue. The work also encompassed a comparison of the SPME method to two well-documented sample preparation procedures, solvent extraction (SE) and quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS). SPME showed considerably less matrix effects, with only two compounds showing significant matrix effects in comparison to 30% of analytes in QuEChERS and 42% in SE in beef tissue. Excellent accuracy and precision results were achieved with all methods in the chicken matrix, with more than 91% of analytes falling within the 70-120% range of their true concentrations and relative standard deviation of ≤25% at 0.75<i>X</i> and 1.5<i>X</i>, where <i>X</i> is the maximum residue level. Similar results were achieved in beef tissue. All methods were able to meet regulatory limit of quantitation levels for the majority of target analytes.