SULFONAMIDE RESIDUES DETERMINATION IN COMMERCIAL POULTRY MEAT AND EGGS

ABSTRACT The study was conducted to determine the residual level of sulfonamides in poultry meat and eggs. This drug isfrequently used in poultry and suspected residues present in meat and eggs may be injurious to human health. A total of30 egg samples, each consisting of 3 eggs, and 30 breast meat samples, collected randomly from sale points at differentlocations and poultry farms of Rawalpindi/Islamabad were used to detect the sulfonamide residues. These egg and meatsamples were stored at 4°C and -20°C, respectively, until the time of analysis. Extraction of sulfonamides from eggs wasperformed using liquid-liquid extraction procedure with acetonitrile and n-hexane while acetonitrile was also used formeat samples followed by clean up with solid phase extraction columns (C18). Detection of sulfonamide residues weremade by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detector set at 265 nm using C 18 column (25cm×0.46, 5 µm) under isocratic conditions and using 0.01 M potassium di-hydrogen phosphate (KH