Development and performance evaluation of a microbiological method for screening and LC-MS/MS for conformation of sulfonamides in animal-derived foods

This study developed a highly sensitive microbiological method utilizing a novel microtiter plate to screen 10 sulfonamides in chicken muscles, eggs, and prawns. This plate was fabricated from agar incorporating trimethoprim and spread with Bacillus megaterium. After residue detection by bioassay, the same test solutions were analyzed by LC-MS/MS for accurate identification and quantification. It also proved eco-friendly compared to using other quantitative methods. The residual drugs were extracted with McIlvaine buffer and purified using an Oasis® MCX cartridge. A triethylamine/methanol/water (0.5:75:24.5, v/v/v) mixture was used as the eluate. The obtained LOD values of the bioassay ranged from 5 to 25 µg kg−1 allowing the detection of the target drugs at the MRLs established in Japan. Adhering to ISO/IEC 17025 standards, the performance of the bioassay was evaluated. Based on the inhibition zone size in bioassay results, quality control yielded a Z score within ±2, indicating reasonable control over the screening process. Proficiency testing of a chicken muscle sample spiked with sulfadimidine demonstrated the inhibition zone detection of the bioassay and quantified value alignment of LC-MS/MS with reference values. In a surveillance study of 91 samples, sulfamethoxazole was detected in one prawn sample.