Simultaneous stereoselective determination of seven β-agonists in pork meat samples by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

This paper presents the stereoselective multi-residue analysis of seven beta-agonists including salbutamol, clorprenaline, terbutaline, tulobuterol, metaproterenol, cimaterol and formoterol in pork muscles by chiral UPLC-MS/MS. The simultaneous enantioseparation of seven analytes was accomplished on a teicoplanin aglycone-based Astec Chirobiotic TAG column under isocratic condition at a flow rate of 0.6 mL min(-1). The effects of the mobile phase composition, the type and content of the organic modifier, and the ratio and content of the additive on the retention and resolution of the enantiomers were investigated and optimized. To obtain the best extraction yields, the analytes were extracted from meat muscles by enzymatic hydrolysis, and then cleaned up using Cleanert PCX solid phase extraction cartridge. Then, the proposed method was validated in terms of selectivity, sensitivity, linearity, accuracy and precision, matrix effect, stability. Quantification of the analytes was achieved using matrix-matched standard calibration curve, providing a liner correlation over the concentration range of 0.1-50 ng g(-1) for each enantiomer. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were in the range of 0.014-0.033 ng g(-1) and 0.035-0.070 ng g(-1), respectively. The method recoveries were within 84.9-106.9%, while the matrix effects were in the range of 84.3-108.3%. The intra- and inter-precision (expressed as RSD%) were found to be < 11.2%, which confirmed the precision of this method. Taking into consideration obtained values of validation parameters, the method seems to be suitable for routine analysis of the target seven beta-agonists in pork meats by UPLC-MS/MS.