A simplified sample pretreatment for the rapid determination of 22 β-agonist residues in swine muscle and liver tissues by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A reliable ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the simultaneous identification and quantification of 22 β-agonist residues in swine muscle and liver tissues. A special focus was given to sample the pretreatment procedures and was crucial for an accurate and reliable analytical method. With regard to the high complexity of food matrices, the extraction solvent, time, and temperature, as well as clean-up cartridges, were optimized to improve the extraction efficiency and reduce matrix effects. The UHPLC-MS/MS method was further validated by determining the linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9900), sensitivity (limit of detection varying from 0.05 μg/kg to 0.8 μg/kg, limit of quantitation ranging from 0.2 μg/kg to 2.5 μg/kg), recovery (ranging from 76.4 to 111.7%) and precision (≤22.9%) in swine muscle and liver tissues. The UHPLC-MS/MS method was proven to be suitable for both screening and the confirmatory determination of 22 β-agonist residues in swine muscle and liver tissues.