High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of penicillin G, penicillin V and cloxacillin in beef and pork tissues.

The objective was to develop confirmatory high-performance liquid chromatographic methods for penicillin residues in animal tissues with detection limits of less than or equal to 10 ng/g. A previously described procedure was modified by using a larger sample size and isocratic analysis. Tissues (15 g) were blended with 45 ml of water and 20 ml of homogenate were mixed with 40 ml acetonitrile and filtered. The filtrate (30 ml) was mixed with 10 ml of 0.2 M H3PO4 and extracted with methylene chloride. The combined methylene chloride layers were mixed with acetonitrile and hexane, washed with two 4-ml portions of water and then extracted with four 1-ml portions of 0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 7). The combined buffer extracts were concentrated to 1 ml under reduced pressure. Analysis was isocratic during 0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 7)-acetonitrile with proportions 85:15 (penicillin G), 82:18 (penicillin V) or 78:22 (cloxacillin). A polystyrene-divinylbenzene copolymer column, 150 x 4.6 mm I.D. (Polymer Labs. PLRP-S), was used with a flow-rate of 1 ml/min and detection at 210 nm. The presence of penicillins was confirmed by treating a duplicate sample with penicillinase. Recoveries were greater than 90% in most instances. Detection limits were 5 ng/g in muscle and higher in liver and kidney. The procedure is a simple and sensitive method for confirming the presence of penicillins in animal tissues.