Determination of nitrofuran metabolites in meat products by UHPLC-fluorescence with ultrasonic-assisted derivatization

[Display omitted] •4-(N,N-Diphenylamino)benzaldehyde was first used for labeling nitrofuran metabolites.•UHPLC-fluorescence with ultrasonic-assisted derivatization can react completely in 20 min.•The pretreatment steps are simple and do not need to adjust the pH to neutral.•The proposed method reduces cost and obtains sensitive detection. A rapid and sensitive analytical method has been proposed to monitor simultaneously four nitrofuran metabolites (NFMs) in meat products by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–fluorescence detection (UHPLC-FLD). These NFMs were derivatized by 4-(N,N diphenylamino)benzaldehyde (DABA) by thermostatic ultrasonication within 20 min. The results confirmed that the four NFMs derivatives had excellent fluorescence response at specific excitation (λex = 260 nm) and emission (λem = 500 nm) wavelengths, and all NFMs derivatives could be separated entirely on the reversed-phase Syncronis C18 column within 10 min. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) in this new method were 0.21 to 0.28 and 0.69 to 0.92 μg/kg, respectively. The four NFMs displayed excellent linearity (R > 0.998), and the recovery rate was satisfactory, ranging from 91.6% to 104.0%. This method successfully determined the NFMs in fish, shrimp and chicken. The method is highly sensitive and accurate, therefore, it may have potential for detecting four NFMs residues in other foodstuffs.