Application of continuous magnetic solid phase extraction in the extraction of tetracycline antibiotics from honey samples

This study aimed to develop a continuous magnetic solid phase extraction method in a narrow bore tube for the extraction of tetracycline antibiotics from honey samples before their determination with high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector. In this work, a magnetic covalent organic framework is used as the sorbent. The extraction method is performed in a narrow bore tube by adding 25 mg of a magnetic sorbent prepared from melamine, barbituric acid, and Fe3O4 into the diluted honey sample solution. By using sing a magnet, the sorbent is moved up and down through the narrow bore tube for five times to improve extraction efficiency. After adsorption the analytes, they are eluted from the sorbent surface using 2,2–dimethoxypropane under vortexing. Then, by using a magnet, the eluent containing the extracted analytes are taken and evaporated with continuous flow of nitrogen. Finally, the residue containing the enriched analytes is reconstituted in microliter–level of mobile phase and injected into chromatographic system for quantitative analysis. Based on the outcomes, the method demonstrated good linearity (0.37–1000 ng g−1), high enrichment factors (175–203), good extraction recoveries (70–81 %), low LODs (0.11–0.18 ng g−1) and LOQs (0.37–0.60 ng g−1). The proposed method is effectively applied for quantification of tetracyclines in twenty–four honey samples. Considering the results, none of the honey samples was contaminated with the studied antibiotics. Regarding to the above–mentioned analytical advantages of the proposed method, its simplicity and rapidity, and green synthesis of the magnetic sorbent particles, the suggested method can be used as a routine method for the extraction of tetracyclines from honey samples.