DETECTION OF ESTROGEN RESIDUES IN MEAT BY THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY AND FLUORIMETRY

A new method for the qualitative and quantitative determination of six anabolic substances is described. The analytical procedure consists of the following steps: comminution of the meat sample; homogenisation with tetrahydrofurane; liquid-liquid partition between sodium hydroxide solution and petroleum ether/benzene; chromatography of the estrogen containing fraction on Sephadex LH-20; derivatization with Dansyl chloride; and finally thin layer chromatography. The qualitative estimation on the TLC-plate is performed with 366 nm ultra violet light. The quantitative determination is carried out either by fluorimetry after elution of the substances from the plate, or by means of a remission spectral fluorimeter directly on the plate. The detection limit of the qualitative estimation in meat extracts was 5-10 ppb. A minimum concentration of 20-50 ppb is necessary for quantitative determination. © 1978 J. F. Bergmann Verlag.