A simple, fast, and low-cost method of extraction using magnetic nanoparticles was developed for sample preparation in the determination of ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin in meat tissues with the use of capillary electrophoresis. This study is the first utilization of silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles with attached C18 chains to extract fluoroquinolones from meat tissues. This method is therefore characterized by a very simple sample preparation procedure, but on the other hand, by satisfactory precision and accuracy. Magnetic nanoparticles with an appropriately modified surface were placed in an Eppendorf tube, then conditioned with methanol, next rinsed with water and, finally, a homogenized tissue sample was added. At the neutral pH of the sample solution, these compounds do not have a charge and are able to adsorb on the modified particles. After extraction, the nanoparticles were dried and, then, desorption of analytes was conducted with the use of a mixture of 0.1 mol/L HCl and acetonitrile (1:1). This approach made it possible to purify the sample matrix and to obtain satisfactory LOQ levels for the method using the CE technique with UV-Vis detection. In this method, the LOD and LOQ values for both analytes were 0.04 nmol/g tissue and 0.15 nmol/g tissue, respectively. The calibration curves were linear in the entire concentration range, and the accuracy and the recovery of the method were at the satisfactory levels. The square value of the linear correlation coefficients (R2) for Cpx and Ofx were 0.9995 and 0.9992, respectively. The precision value of the method was within the range of 3-11% and accuracy was in the range of 93-110%.
Keywords: antibiotics; ciprofloxacin; magnetic nanoparticles; ofloxacin; sorptive extraction.