Development and Comparison of Sample Preparation Techniques for Chromatographic Analysis of Sulfonamide Residues in Bovine Milk

Abstract

Most studies to determine sulfonamide residues in milk samples have used solid-phase extraction as the sample preparation technique. However, the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method, introduced in 2003, has been used in the extraction of various compounds in food matrices. This study aimed to evaluate two sample preparation techniques: solid-phase extraction and QuEChERS, for chromatographic analysis of sulfonamides (sulfathiazole, sulfamethazine, and sulfadimethoxine) in bovine milk. The chromatographic parameters and the QuEChERS extraction procedure were developed by using different experimental designs, obtaining good peak resolution, recovery, precision, accuracy, linearity, selectivity, and limits of detection and quantification. In contrast, using solid-phase extraction, acceptable recoveries and selectivity were not achieved, despite the number of articles published that have applied this sample preparation technique for sulfonamide analysis. As a result of the experiments performed, probably sulfonamides are retained together with other components of the matrix in the sample pretreatment step (prior to its addition in the cartridge containing solid phase), which is an important part of solid-phase extraction with raw whole milk. Therefore, QuEChERS is a better method than solid-phase extraction for the analysis of sulfonamide residues in milk. Validation tests demonstrated that the method is appropriate, within the maximum residue limit (0.1 mg kg⁻¹). Moreover, it was possible to use a lower amount of solvent compared with previously published articles (6 mL against 10 or 15 mL).