Quantitative analysis of lincomycin and narasin in poultry, milk and eggs by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

This study presents the simultaneous extraction and determination of lincomycin (LCM) and narasin (NAR) by using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) on samples from poultry, milk and eggs (n = 196). The homogenised samples are extracted with acetonitrile and the extract is further cleaned using C18 solid-phase extraction cartridges. The recoveries of the analytes in different matrices were found ranging from 90% to 101% and 85% to 95% for LCM and NAR, respectively. The corresponding limits of detection were 0.6 and 1.5 ng g−1 for LCM and NAR, respectively. As a result of monitoring, NAR was not detected in any samples and LCM was detected in one egg with a concentration of 25 ng g−1. The method was relatively simple to perform and therefore could be used for food safety surveillance activities.