HPLC Determination of Tetracyclines in Lamb Muscle Using an RP-C₁₈ Monolithic Type Column

Summary

Four antibiotics, oxytetracycline (OTC), tetracycline (TCC), chlortetracycline (CTC) and doxycycline (DXC), were separated and quantified in lamb muscle extracts using a commercial RP-C₁₈ monolithic HPLC column and a DAD detector. Operating an isocratic flow of 2 mL min⁻¹ the HPLC separation of the four compounds was obtained within 6 min with a good peak symmetry and an acceptable separation factor (1.27) for the critical peak pair OTC-TCC. Values of the normalized numbers of theoretical plates (N cm⁻¹) were comprised between 338–780 while the limits of quantitation (S/N=10) were within 12–65 μg kg⁻¹.