Organic solvents-free technique for determining sulfadimethoxine and its metabolites in chicken meat

A quick and cost-effective technique of sample preparation followed by a reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography under “organic solvent-free” (=100% aqueous) conditions for the simultaneous quantifying of sulfadimethoxine (SDM) and its metabolites, 6-hydroxy SDM (6-OH) and N4-acetyl SDM (N4-Ac), in chicken muscle is presented. Analysis by HPLC with photo-diode array detector was performed using a short C1 column with an isocratic 0.04 mol/l citric acid mobile phase. The method was validated by the analyses of spiked chicken muscle samples, resulting recoveries (≥84%; relative standard deviations ≤6%), analytical total time (<1/2 h/sample, where a batch of 12 samples in 4 h), and limits of quantitation (≤0.1 μg/g). The decision limits and detection capability were 0.019–0.106 and 0.054–0.112 μg/g, respectively. No organic solvents were used at all.