A Suitable HPLC-MS/MS Methodology for the Detection of Oxytetracycline, Enrofloxacin, and Sulfachloropyridazine Residues in Lettuce Plants

Abstract

Oxytetracycline (OTC), enrofloxacin (EFX), and sulfachloropyridazine (SCP) are critically important antimicrobials (AMs) in both human and veterinary medicine, where they are widely used in farm animals. Lettuce has become a matrix of choice for studying the presence of residues of these AMs in plants, as the concentrations of residues detected in lettuce can range from ng to mg. While several analytical methodologies have been developed for the purpose of detecting AMs in lettuce, these currently do not detect both the parent compound and its active metabolites or epimers, such as in the case of ciprofloxacin (CFX) and 4-epi-oxitetracycline (4-epi-OTC), which also pose a risk to public health and the environment due to their AM activity. In light of this situation, this work proposes an analytical method that was developed specifically to allow for the detection of OTC, 4-epi-OTC, EFX, CFX, and SCP in a lettuce matrix. This method uses acetonitrile, methanol, 0.5% formic acid, and McIlvaine-EDTA buffer as extraction solvents, and dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) for the clean-up. The analytes were detected using a liquid chromatography technique coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Parameters such as the specificity, linearity, recovery, precision, limit of detection, and limit (LOD) of quantification (LOQ) were calculated according to the recommendations established in the European Union decision 2021/808/EC and VICH GL2: Validation of analytical procedures. The LOQ for the analytes OTC, 4-epi-OTC, CFX, and SCP was 1 μg·kg−1, whereas for EFX, it was 5 μg·kg−1 dry weight. All calibration curves showed a coefficient of determination (R2) of >0.99. The recovery levels ranged from 93.0 to 110.5% and the precision met the acceptance criteria, with a coefficient of variation of ≤14.02%. Therefore, this methodology allows for the precise and reliable detection and quantification of these analytes. The analysis of commercial samples confirmed the suitability of this method.