Automated centrifugation-less milk deproteinization and homogenous liquid-liquid extraction of sulfonamides for online liquid chromatography.

A novel approach to the determination of sulfonamides in milk based on the Lab-In-Syringe technique is presented. The method involves automated salting-out liquid-liquid extraction of the analytes, allowing simultaneous sample deproteination without requiring centrifugation or manual sample handling. The procedural parameters, including salt type, solvent-to-sample ratio, and salt solution volume, were studied. The extracts obtained were diluted in situ and transferred to online coupled liquid chromatography for analyte separation carried out in parallel to the subsequent extraction. In this way, a sample throughput of approximately 6 h-1 was achieved. The detection limits ranged from 25 to 32 μg L-1 using a 500 μL milk sample and spectrophotometric detection. The applicability of the developed method to sample analysis was proven by recovery values ranging from 73.2% to 94.1% (86.3% on average) for milk samples of different fat content spiked at 3 μg mL-1 level. Straightforward automation of one of the most laborious preparation steps in food analysis, i.e., deproteination, was demonstrated.