Routine Screening Method Separates Target Antibiotics in DDGS within 15 Minutes

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a simple and accurate method to quantify four key antibiotics in dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) using high-performance liquid chromatography with charged aerosol detection.

Application Note (AN) 1055: Determination of Virginiamycin, Erythromycin, and Penicillin in Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles demonstrates the ability of a specialized protein and peptide column to efficiently separate and resolve the target antibiotics within 15 min, followed by column cleanup and equilibration for a total analysis time of 25 min.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has raised concern over food-producing animals consuming DDGS with antibiotic residues, which potentially may lead to increased antibiotic resistance in humans and animals.

Therefore, to meet possible future regulatory requirements, a screening method is needed to determine residual antibiotics in DDGS.

The multistep sample preparation process and chromatography detailed in AN 1055 provide a quantification method that addresses the challenge of determining the four major antibiotics, with a wide range of physical and chemical properties, used in DDGS production.