Quinolones are a group of structurally related antibacterial compounds. Over the last years their use in animal production has been greatly increased. This increase can cause the resistance of bacteria. In order to protect human health the European Union (EU), as well as other countries, has established Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) for these antibacterial agents in several foods. Among these foods, pig and chicken muscle have different MRLs in the sub-ppm range. A liquid chromatography-fluorescence spectrometric method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous assessment of four of the most used quinolones in edible animal matrices production. Simultaneous quantification of enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, oxolinic acid and flumequine was achieved by a method involving an initial aqueous extraction step followed by a solid-liquid-phase extraction using reverse-phase columns (C-18) and a final injection of all quinolones in a single chromatographic run using HPLC-Fluorescence detection. Nalidixic acid was used as internal standard. In addition to the description of the analytical method developed for the quantification of the studied quinolones, the different validation parameters of this method according to Commission Decision EC /657/2002 of the EU are presented and discussed.
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