Determination of Nitrofuran Antibiotics in Animal Products and Feeds

Abstract

Nitrofurans are a group of antibiotics widely used to treat infected livestock. However, residues of their metabolites could be found in animals after use. This could be harmful to human who consume the contaminated animal products. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor these residues by efficient detection methods. Currently, the methods used to analytically detect the residues in meat are the chemical methods such as Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and the biological methods such as microbiology test and immunoassay based on the technique of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or ELISA. Each method possesses different advantages and disadvantages and the selection depends on the objectives of the users. However, ELISA is a suitable method for screening a large number of samples because of its specificity, accuracy and precision and user friendliness. In addition, it can be used to detect a residue in many samples simultaneously, while the chemical based methods are suitable as confirmatory detection of a suspected sample after screening.