Supramolecular solvents in solid sample microextractions: Application to the determination of residues of oxolinic acid and flumequine in fish and shellfish

Supramolecular solvents are here proposed firstly as extractants in solid sample microextractions. The approach was evaluated by extracting flumequine (FLU) and oxolinic acid (OXO), two widely used veterinary medicines, from fish and shellfish muscle using a supramolecular solvent made up of decanoic acid (DeA) reverse micelles. The antibiotics were extracted in a single step (∼15 min), at room temperature, using 400 μL of solvent. After centrifugation, an aliquot of the extract was directly analyzed by liquid chromatography and fluorescence, without the need of clean-up or solvent evaporation. Contrary to the previously reported methods, both OXO and FLU were quantitatively extracted from fish and shellfish, independently of sample composition. The high extraction efficiencies observed for these antibiotics were a consequence of their amphiphilic character which resulted in the formation of DeA-OXO and DeA-FLU mixed aggregates. The quality parameters of this quantitative method including sensitivity, linearity, selectivity, repeatability, trueness, ruggedness, stability, decision limit and detection capability were evaluated according to the 2002/657/EC Commission Decision. Quantitation limits in the different samples analyzed (salmon, sea trout, sea bass, gilt-head bream, megrim and prawns) ranged between 6.5 and 22 μg kg−1 for OXO and, 5 and 15 μg kg−1 for FLU. These limits were far below the current maximum residue limits (MRLs) set by the European Union (EU) (i.e. 100 and 600 μg kg−1, for OXO and FLU, respectively). The trueness of the method was determined by analyzing a Certified Reference Material (CMR, BCR®-725) consisting of a lyophilised salmon tissue material. Recoveries for fortified samples (50–100 μg kg−1 of OXO and 50–600 μg kg−1 of FLU) and their relative standard deviations were in the intervals 99–102% and 0.2–5%, respectively. The repeatability, expressed as relative standard deviation, was 3.6% for OXO and 2.3% for FLU ([OXO] = [FLU] = 200 μg kg−1 and n = 11).