Rapid determination of tetracycline in milk by FT-MIR and FT-NIR Spectroscopy

The feasibility of measuring tetracycline at the ppb levels in milk was investigated by Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) and Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopic techniques. Milk samples spiked with different concentrations of tetracycline were scanned using FT-MIR and FT-NIR spectroscopy. Suitable spectral wave number regions were selected for principal least square (PLS) regression models development. Prediction errors were high when the calibration model was developed using the wide range of tetracycline concentrations (4 to 2000 ppb) in milk. Maximum correlation coefficient (R-2) value of about 0.89 was obtained for the validation models developed using different concentration ranges. Prediction errors were high for FT-NIR method. Results indicated that FT-MIR spectroscopy could be used for rapid detection of tetracycline hydrochloride residues in milk.