Determination of aminoglycosides in honey by capillary electrophoresis tandem mass spectrometry and extraction with molecularly imprinted polymers

• CE-MS/MS proposed the first time for the determination of 9 aminoglycosides in honeys.
• Molecularly imprinted polymer for the selective solid phase extraction of analytes.
• High sensitivity with limits of quantification from 1.4 to 94.8 μg kg−1.
• Recoveries ranged from 88.2 to 99.8%, with RSD lower than 8%.

A new analytical method based on capillary zone electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry is proposed and validated for the identification and simultaneous quantification of nine aminoglycosides in honey samples. Detection using an ion trap mass analyzer operating in the multiple reaction monitoring mode was used. Different parameters were optimized in order to obtain an adequate separation combined with the highest sensitivity. In order to achieve high selectivity in the sample treatment, a commercially-available molecularly imprinted polymer has been used for the solid phase extraction of the analytes. Under optimum conditions, recoveries for fortified samples ranged from 88.2 to 99.8%, with relative standard deviations lower than 8%. The limits of detection ranged from 0.4 to 28.5 μg kg−1. Furthermore, the decision limit and the detection capability were evaluated, ranging from 3.5 to 60.5 μg kg−1 and from 6.0 to 103.1 μg kg−1, respectively, demonstrating the sensitivity and applicability of this fast and simple method.

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