Development and validation of an analytical methodology for the detection and quantification of amoxicillin in meat, by LC-MS/MS

The development and validation of an analytical methodology, based on liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), was set up for the detection and quantification of amoxicillin in meat. The method consists of a simple extraction with phosphate buffer (pH 8.2) with sodium chloride followed by purification by solid phase extraction on OASIS HLB. During validation, according to the established European Union requirements, the following limits for amoxicillin were set: detection limit (LD) of 5 μg/kg and quantification limit (LQ) of 8 μg/kg. The decision limit (CCα) and the capacity of detection (CCβ) obtained for amoxicillin were 56 μg/kg and 67 μg/kg. A stability study was conducted, under pH and temperature variations, with the goal of better understand amoxicillin degradation and characterize its main products (amoxicilloic acid and amoxicillin diketopiperazine). Key-words: Amoxicillin, LC-MS/MS, validation, meat