An immunoaffinity column for the selective purification of 3-methyl-quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid from swine tissues and its determination by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection and a colloidal gold-based immunochromatographi

•This is the first demonstration of the use of IAC for the clean-up of MQCA.•Based on IAC purification procedures, HPLC-UV and GICA methods were developed.•Compared with traditional SPE, IAC provides a good purification effect.•This method is an environmentally friendly approach to control MQCA.

An immunoaffinity column (IAC) for the selective purification of 3-methyl-quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid (MQCA) from porcine muscle and the liver as well as the methods for its determination by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) and a colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic assay (GICA) were developed. This is the first study that describes a clean-up method that employs an IAC for the determination of MQCA. Using the HPLC-UV method, the limits of detection and limits of quantification for MQCA in different samples were 1.0-3.0 μg kg−1 and 4.0-10.0 μg kg−1, respectively. The average recoveries of MQCA that was spiked into samples at concentrations of 4.0-100 μg kg−1 were 80.1-87.7%, with relative standard deviations of less than 8.5%. Using the GICA method, the limits of detection for MQCA in different samples were 10 μg kg−1 and 50 μg kg−1. No false negatives or false positives were observed.