Chloramphenicol residues in chicken liver, kidney and muscle: A comparison among the antibacterial residues monitoring methods of Four Plate Test, ELISA and HPLC

There are many concerns about safety of food contaminated with antibacterial residues. This study was designed to investigate the occurrence of chloramphenicol (CAP) residue in broiler chickens tissues, namely liver, kidney and muscle. One hundred and sixty broiler chickens carcasses were collected from three provinces of Iran. Four Plate Test (FTP), ELISA and HPLC were used to qualify and quantify the contamination of the samples with CAP. The results of FPT revealed that up to 17.5% of the samples were contaminated with the antibiotic. The ELISA assay showed that out of 28 positive samples in FPT, 22 liver, 21 kidney and 14 muscle samples were positive for CAP. ELISA analyses demonstrated that the minimum and maximum levels of 0.54 and 155.2 ng/g were detected in the kidney and liver, respectively. HPLC analyses confirmed the ELISA findings although the level of contamination was lower than that of ELISA. These data showed that despite the prohibition of CAP application in food animals including poultry, the CAP residue was detectable indicating an illegal use of this antibiotic. Our findings also demonstrated the application of sensitive and more specific analytical assays in screening and quantitation of CAP residues in food products.