Determination of aminoglycoside antibiotics: Current status and future trends

The use of aminoglycoside antibiotics is prevalent in medicine and agriculture. Their overuse increases their mobility in the environment, resulting in a need for reliable methods for their determination in a variety of matrices. However, the properties of aminoglycosides, in particular their high polarity, make the development of such methods a non-trivial task, inciting researchers to tackle this complex issue from different angles. The necessity to determine aminoglycosides in complex matrices and at low concentration levels requires the development of relatively elaborate sample preparation methods and the use of selective and sensitive detection techniques. Various modes of liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry are usually the analytical methods of choice. However, the recent developments in techniques such as bioassays, quantum dot-based colourimetric applications and various aptasensors point towards the development of more easily accessible and user-friendly point-of-need tests for screening applications in food control and environmental monitoring. This review summarizes the state-of-the-art in sample preparation protocols and the determination of aminoglycosides using various techniques and outlines the future trends with an emphasis placed on the novel and emerging solutions in this area. •Reliable analytical methods are needed for determining aminoglycoside antibiotics.•We review the state-of-the-art in sample preparation and detection techniques.•Trends in the development of both LC-based and emerging methods are discussed.