Determination of four fluoroquinolones in milk by on-line immunoaffinity capture coupled with reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

An automated, on-line immunoaffinity extraction method was developed for the analysis of 4 fluoroquinolones in milk: ciprofloxacin, difloxacin, enrofloxacin, and sarafloxacin. This method involves analyte extraction using an immunoaffinity capture column containing anti-fluoroquinolone antibodies coupled on-line with reversed-phase column chromatography. Liquid chromatographic analyses were performed by isocratic elution using a mobile phase of 2% acetic acid-acetonitrile (85 + 15) and an Inertsil phenyl column with fluorescence detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 278 and 444 nm, respectively. No significant interferences from the sample matrix were observed, indicating good selectivity with the immunoaffinity column. Recoveries from fortified raw milk samples (5-50 ppb of each fluoroquinolone) ranged from 72 to 90%, with standard deviations of < or = 8%.