Advances on the chromatographic determination of amphenicols in food.

Antibiotics are widely used in veterinary medicine to treat and prevent diseases and their residues can remain in food of animal origin causing adverse effects to human health. Amphenicols (chloramphenicol, thiamphenicol, and florfenicol) may be found in foodstuffs, although the use of chloramphenicol has been prohibited in many countries due to its high toxicity. Since these antibiotics are usually present at trace levels in food, sensitive and selective techniques are required to detect them. This paper reviews analytical methods used since 2002 for the quantitative analysis of amphenicols in food. Sample preparation and separation/detection techniques are described and compared. The advantages and disadvantages of these procedures are discussed. Furthermore, the worldwide legislation and occurrence of these antibiotics in food matrices as well as future trends are also presented.

Synephrine - A potential biomarker for orange honey authenticity.

A LC-MS/MS method for synephrine as a biomarker for orange honey authenticity was developed and validated. The sample was extracted with 5% TCA and cleaned up with Florisil providing 83.7% recoveries. Ions transitions for quantification and identification were 168→135.0 and 168→107.0, respectively. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.66 and 1.0ng/g, respectively. Synephrine was detected in orange honey at levels from 79.2 to 432.2ng/g, but not in other monofloral honeys. It was also present in some wildflower honeys (9.4-236.5ng/g), showing contribution of citrus to this polyfloral honey. Results were confirmed by qualitative pollen analysis. No citrus pollen was detected in honey containing synephrine levels ≤43.8ng/g, suggesting that synephrine in honey is more sensitive compared to pollen analysis. Synephrine was found in citrus but not in other apiculture flowers. Therefore, synephrine is a botanical marker to differentiate and attest authenticity of orange honey.

Quality assurance of histamine analysis in fresh and canned fish.

Histamine determination is relevant for fish safety, quality and trade. Recently a study by the European Union (EU) compared the Codex and the EU mandated methods for the analysis of histamine and observed that they underestimated and overestimated the results, respectively. To solve this problem, a simple and efficient procedure for the extraction and quantification of histamine by ion-pair HPLC method with post-column derivatization and fluorimetric detection is proposed. It was optimized and validated for the analysis of histamine in fish. The method attended the performance criteria established by Commission Decision 2002/657/CE. The method was also submitted to proficiency testing; uncertainty was calculated; and the stability of solutions and standards was investigated. There was no matrix effect. The LOD, LOQ, CCα and CCß were fit for the purpose. The method was successfully used in the analyses of freshwater fish and fresh and canned tuna.