Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of 21 β-blockers in animal-derived foods

A method for the simultaneous determination of 21 β-blockers in pork, beef, mutton, conditioned meat, pork liver, sheep kidney, milk, and eggs using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed. The samples were subjected to acidic precipitation and purified using solid phase extraction (SPE) columns. The column, mobile phase and sample preparation of the method were optimized, and the relevant methodology was validated. The results demonstrated that the established method exhibited good linearity within the testing concentration range, with R2 values exceeding 0.99. The precisions (RSD) ranged between 0.8% and 12.43%. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) for the 21 β-blockers ranged from 0.1 to 0.4 μg/kg and 0.5 to 0.8 μg/kg, respectively. The average recoveries at three fortification levels ranged from 70.4% to 106.4%, with the exception of practolol, atenolol, and oxprenolol. The matrix effects ranged from 72.1% to 100.9%. The proposed method is simple, rapid, accurate, and reliable, and is suitable for the simultaneous determination of β-blockers in various animal-derived foods.