MICRO HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR THE DETERMINATION OFNICARBAZIN IN CHICKEN TISSUES, EGGS, POULTRY FEED AND LITTER

A micro high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the determination of the anti-coccidial drug nicarbazin in chicken tissues, eggs, poultry feeds and litter. The 4,4'-dinitroca rbanilide (DNC) component of nicarbazin was extracted from foods, feed s and litter with acetonitrile. The extracts were purified by liquid-l iquid partitioning, evaporated to dryness and taken up in methanol-ace tonitrile-water (50:30:20, v/v). Micro HPLC of the 4,4'-dinitrocarbani lide (DNC) portion of nicarbazin is performed isocratically using a sm all bore column (1 mm I.D.) packed with reversed-phase and a UV detect or set at 340 nm. The average recoveries of nicarbazin added to muscle , liver and egg were 92.8, 84.3 and 85.2%, respectively, 95.9% in poul try feed and 76.8-95.9% in different litters. The limit of detection w as 25 pg, based on a detector signal-to-noise ratio of 3. These result s were achieved with a simplified step extraction without the solid-ph ase extraction used by various researchers. This method offers a sensi tive, selective, rapid, and less expensive alternative to conventional HPLC for such evaluations.