Usefulness of D-optimal designs and multicriteria optimization in laborious analytical procedures

A novel Bi2S3 QD-based DPV/ECL synchronous dual-mode molecularly imprinted sensor for enrofloxacin detection in eggs

Herein, a novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) dual-mode-based molecularly imprinted (MIP) sensor had been established for the detection of enrofloxacin (ENR) in eggs. Firstly, bismuth sulfide quantum dots (Bi2S3 QDs) as ECL luminophore were synthesized. Furthermore, a MIP film with ionic liquid (ILs), Bi2S3 QDs, and ENR was prepared via the electrochemical polymerization procedure on the electrode. As ENR was identified and captured by the imprinted cavities, the electron transfer pathway was blocked on the electrochemical interface, resulting in the decrease of both DPV signals and ECL signals. As a novel synchronous dual-mode sensing strategy, a pulsed voltage was applied to produce both the DPV signal and ECL signal simultaneously. The ECL and DPV response showed the good linear relationships with the concentration of ENR with the ranges of 0.5 Nm-25 μM and 5 nM-25 μΜ and the detection limits of 0.13 nM and 1.59 nM, respectively.

Preparation of monodisperse, restricted-access, media-molecularly imprinted polymers using bi-functional monomers for solid-phase extraction of sarafloxacin from complex samples

Monodisperse restricted-access media bi-functional monomers with molecularly imprinted polymers (RAM-MIPs) were constructed using surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. They were used as solid-phase extraction (SPE) adsorbents to enrich sarafloxacin (SAR) residues from egg samples, and influences on their performance were investigated. Optimum synthesis of RAM-MIPs was achieved by combining a bi-functional monomer (4-vinylpyridine-co-methacrylic acid, 1:3) with an 8:1:32:8 ratio of a template molecule, cross-linker, and restricted-access functional monomer. The SAR imprinting factor of RAM-MIPs was 6.05 and the selectivity coefficient between SAR and other fluoroquinolones was 1.86-2.64. Compared with traditional MIPs, the RAM-MIPs showed better SAR enrichment and selectivity during extraction of a complex protein-containing solution. Empty SPE cartridges were filled with RAM-MIP microspheres as SPE adsorbents. The limit of quantitation for SAR was 4.23 ng g^-1 (signal-to-noise ratio = 10) and the mean SAR recovery from spiked egg samples was 94.0-101.3%. Intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations were 1.1-9% and 1.5-3.3%, respectively.

Procedure for the Screening of Eggs and Egg Products to Detect Oxolonic Acid, Ciprofloxacin, Enrofloxacin, and Sarafloxacin Using Micellar Liquid Chromatography

A method based on micellar liquid chromatography was developed to determine oxolinic acid, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and sarafloxacin in eggs and egg products. The antimicrobial drugs were obtained in a micellar solution which was directly injected. The analytes were resolved using a C18 column and a mobile phase of 0.05 M sodium dodecyl sulfate—7.5% 1-propanol—0.5% triethylamine, buffered at pH 3 with phosphate salt, running under the isocratic mode. The signal was monitored by fluorescence. Validation was successfully performed according to the EU Commission Decision 2002/657/EC in terms of specificity, calibration range (LOQ to 1 mg/kg), linearity (R² > 0.9991), limit of detection and decision limit (0.01–0.05 mg/kg), limit of quantification (0.025–0.150 mg/kg), detection capability (<0.4 times decision limit), trueness (−14.2% to +9.8%), precision (<14.0%), robustness, and stability. The procedure was environmentally friendly, safe, easy-to-conduct, inexpensive, and had a high sample throughput, thus it is useful for routine analysis as a screening method in a laboratory for food residue control.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method for metabolic profiling of tobacco leaves

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method was developed for profiling of tobacco leaves. The differentiation among tobacco leaves planted in two different regions was investigated. Prior to analysis, the extraction solvent formulation was optimized and a combination of water, methanol and acetonitrile with a volume ratio of 3:1:1 was found to be optimal. The reproducibility of the method was satisfactory. Kendall tau-b rank correlation coefficients were equal to 1 (p<0.05) for 82% of the resolved peaks (up to 95% of the overall peak areas), indicating the good response correlation. Forty-four compounds including 9 saccharides, 9 alcohols, 9 amino acids, 16 organic acids and phosphoric acid were identified based on standard compounds. The method was successfully applied for profiling of tobacco leaves from Zimbabwe and Yunnan of China. Our result revealed that levels of saccharides and their derivatives including xylose, ribose, fructose, glucose, turanose, xylitol and glyceric acid were more abundant while sucrose, glucitol and D-gluconic acid were less abundant in tobacco leaves from Yunnan as compared to those from Zimbabwe. Amino acids such as L-alanine, L-tyrosine and L-threonine were found to be richer in Zimbabwe tobacco than in Yunnan tobacco.

Quantitative determination of fenoterol and fenoterol derivatives in rat plasma using on-line immunoextraction and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

An on-line immunoextraction and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method was developed and validated for the determination of R,R'-fenoterol, R,R'-methoxyfenoterol and R,S'-naphthylfenoterol in rat plasma. Sample preparation involved immunoextraction of analytes using an antibody raised against R,R'- and R,S'-aminofenoterol that was immobilized onto chromatographic support. LC was performed on a Waters hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) column (150 mm x 2.1mm), using an isocratic mobile phase of methanol:ammonium acetate (10mM, pH 6.8) (90:10, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.2 ml/min. The MS was operated in the single ion monitoring mode (m/z 304.2 for R,R'-fenoterol, m/z 318.1 for R,R'-methoxyfenoterol, and m/z 339.2 for R,S'-naphthylfenoterol). Optimization of analytes desorption process from the immunoextraction column was performed by factorial analysis and the sample calibration curves were made with spiked rat plasma samples containing 0.5-100 ng/ml of drugs. The cross-selectivity studies of the antibody were determined and the results suggested high selectivities toward R,R'-fenoterol, R,R'-methoxyfenoterol and R,S'-naphthylfenoterol. The accuracy of assay was more than 96% while intra- and inter-day precision of assay were less than 12.4%. Stability studies (2h benchtop, freeze/thaw, and autosampler stability) were conducted and the analytes were stable through out studies. The validated method was used to determine the plasma concentration-time profiles of drugs after oral administration to rats of R,R'-fenoterol, R,R'-methoxyfenoterol and R,S'-naphthylfenoterol.

Molecularly imprinted-matrix solid-phase dispersion for selective extraction of five fluoroquinolones in eggs and tissue

A novel highly selective sample cleanup procedure combining molecular imprinting and matrix solid-phase dispersion (MI-MSPD) was developed for the simultaneous isolation of ofloxacin, pefloxacin, norflorxacin, ciprofloxacin, and enrofloxacin in chicken eggs and swine tissues followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The novel ofloxacin imprinted polymers synthesized in water-containing systems show high selectivity for the five fluoroquinolones in aqueous environment and the affinity can be easily adjusted by the pH of solution. Compared with conventional MSPD methods, using MIPs as selective MSPD sorbents, the five fluoroquinolones could be selectively extracted from a biological matrix and all matrix interferences were eliminated simultaneously. The average recoveries of the five fluoroquinolones were ranged from 85.7 to 104.6% for eggs and 86.8 to 102.7% for tissues with relative standard deviations of less than 7.0%. Detection limits for the identification of the five fluoroquinolones in eggs and tissues ranged from 0.05 to 0.09 ng/g.

Response surface methodology for the microwave-assisted extraction of insecticides from soil samples

The extraction of two pyrethroid insecticides (deltamethrin and alpha-cypermethrin) together with three organophosphorus insecticides (dimethoate, diazinon and malathion) from soil samples was carried out with microwave-assisted technology. Experimental designs showed that extraction temperature, addition of water to the extractant and solvent/soil ratio were the variables that affected the recoveries of the pesticide the most. Response surface methodology was applied to find the optimum values of the variables involved in the extractions of the analytes. In addition, in order to achieve near-optimal extraction conditions, a desirability function was used to optimize the five pesticides simultaneously. The optimized conditions were applied to different types of soils.

Quantitative determination in chromatographic analysis based on n-way calibration strategies

Chemometric techniques for calibration with three-way signals are sufficiently developed for their use in routine analysis. The advantage of the second order property (the possibility of quantifying an analyte in the presence of interferents) together with the guarantee of the uniqueness of the decomposition, what means to extract the signal corresponding only to the analyte of interest, make these calibration techniques especially useful for the quantification and identification of analytes in complex samples. This has a particular interest in the identification and quantification of banned substances or substances with a specified maximum limit. The paper describes the theory of the calibration methodology in relation to the signal order and then focuses the analysis on the three-way techniques commonly used in calibration: n-way partial least squares, multivariate curve resolution and parallel factor analysis. The figures of merit needed for the accreditation of analytical methods are analyzed from the viewpoint of n-way calibrations in chromatography.

Focused microwave-assisted Soxhlet extraction of acorn oil for determination of the fatty acid profile by GC–MS. Comparison with conventional and standard methods

A study of the feasibility of focused microwave-assisted Soxhlet extraction of acorn oil and comparison of results from analysis of trans fatty acids in the oil thus obtained with those for oils obtained by use of other methods commonly used for oil extraction are reported here. The proposed method was optimized by means of a 21-experiment screening design to determine, by means of a reduced number of experiments, which factors affect both extraction efficiency and the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids in the oil. The proposed method enables total extraction of the fatty acids in 30 min, which is much less than the time required by the Folch (4.5 h), Soxhlet (16 h), and ISO (8 h) reference methods and the stirring-extraction method (56 h). The efficiency of extraction achieved by use of the proposed method is statistically equivalent to that achieved by use of the other methods; the composition of the extracts obtained by use of the proposed method and the Folch and stirring reference methods are also statistically similar. No trans fatty acids were present in the extracts obtained by use of the Folch, stirring, and proposed methods but they were detected in the extracts obtained by use of both the Soxhlet and ISO methods.

Monitoring of fluoroquinolone residual levels in chicken eggs by microbiological assay and confirmation by liquid chromatography

The primary objective of this study was to develop a simple, rapid, and efficient method for the simultaneous determination of four fluoroquinolone residues, ciprofloxacin (CFX), danofloxacin (DFX), enrofloxacin (EFX) and norfloxacin (NFX), in chicken eggs. The samples were first monitored by microbiological assay using Escherichia coli as the reference organism, and were then quantified using HPLC with a fluorescence detector. Egg samples were extracted by the liquid-phase extraction process, and the analytes were analyzed via an ODS column using a mixture of acetonitrile and 0.4% phosphoric acid-0.4% triethylamine (15: 85, v/v) as a mobile phase (pH=2) without purification. The calibration curves were linear (r2>or=0.999) over a concentration range of 0.1-1.0 microg/mL. The majority of the mean recoveries at four different fortification levels, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 ppm, ranged from 73.7+/-7.2% to 87.1+/-12.7%, and the repeatability (as the relative standard deviation) from three repetitive determinations of recovery was between 1.03 and 18.83%. The calculated limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 9 ppb for CFX, EFX and NFX and 0.6 ppb for DFX. Both the bioassay and HPLC methods were applied to 120 total egg samples collected from the six major cities in the Republic of Korea. The bioassay, showed that two samples were positive (i.e contained inhibiting substances). On the other hand, the results of HPLC only identified and quantified the residues of enrofloxacin (from 0.43 to 1.02 ppm) in three samples out of 120. We concluded that the bioassay can be used as a routine screening method for the presence of fluoroquinolones in chicken eggs, which can be confirmed and quantified using LC.

Development of a new sample pretreatment procedure based on pressurized liquid extraction for the determination of fluoroquinolone residues in table eggs

A new method for the simultaneous determination of three fluoroquinolones (FQs) enrofloxacin (ENRO) ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) and sarafloxacin (SARA) in table eggs has been developed, applying pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and liquid chromatography (LC) with fluorescence detection (LC-FLD). The influence of several extraction parameters (e.g. solvent mixture, temperature and extraction time) on FQs extraction efficiency and coextracted matrix interferents was evaluated using fortified control eggs and matrix matched standard curves. The results showed that FQs extraction efficiency depends mainly on solvent composition and the optimum extraction mixture was found to be phosphate 50mM, pH 3.0/acetonitrile (50:50, v/v). The optimized procedure employed 50% flush volume, 5min of static time and three extraction cycles at 70 degrees C and 1500psi. Method validation was performed according to the guidelines of the Directive 96/23/EC, using control egg samples, fortified with the target FQs in the range 50-1000ngg(-1) and applying the optimized extraction conditions on three different days, providing recoveries between 67-90% with RSDs lower than 11% in all cases. The decision limit (CCalpha) and detection capability (CCbeta) of the analytical method were found to be within the range 17-24ngg(-1) and 30-41ngg(-1), respectively. The method was successfully applied to the determination of ENRO and its metabolite CIPRO in incurred egg samples from ENRO-treated hens and LC-MS has been used and for confirmatory purposes.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of pesticides from olive branches: a multifactorial approach to method development

A rapid and simple method has been developed for the analysis in olive branches of two insecticides currently used in olive pest control, dimethoate and alpha-cypermethrin. The effects of analytical conditions on pesticide recovery and the optimal extraction conditions were evaluated by means of a factorial design. The use of this chemometric tool in analytical method development allows the identification of the principal and interaction effects of the extraction conditions on the recovery of pesticides. It also gives information about the location of pesticide maximum recovery with minimal experimental investment. Extraction was carried out with an ultrasonic bath and the experimental conditions studied included the volume of extractant, the time of extraction, the number of extraction steps and the sample weight. The sample was further cleaned up using a Florisil solid-phase extraction cartridge. For the overall extraction procedure, recoveries of 99 % for alpha-cypermethrin and 90 % for dimethoate from the spiked samples were found for 1 g of sample extracted three times with 35 mL hexane, sonicating for 2 min in each step. The complete process including ultrasonic extraction and filtration will not require more than 15-20 min, in contrast with several hours for conventional liquid-solid extraction techniques. The proposed method allows a high sample throughput, as commonly required in monitoring studies.