Microbiological and chemical detection of antibiotic residues in livestock and seafood products in the Korean market

Abstract

The microbiological and chemical identification of antibiotic residues was attempted for livestock and seafood products including pork (n=34), beef (n=34), chicken (n=32), flatfish (n=37), armorclad rockfish (n=36), and sea bream (n=27). The meat (n=100) and seafood (n=100) samples were collected from 9 markets in 5 major Korean cities. Antibiotic substances were identified from the classes of tetracyclines, macrolides, penicillins, aminoglycosides, polyethers, peptides, sulfonamides, quinolones, chlorampenicots, and novobiocins using a microbiological assay, the Charm 11 test and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultra violet (UV) and fluorescence detectors. The results showed that 2 tetracyclines (oxytetracycline and tetracycline) and 3 quinolones (ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and enrofloxacin) were detected in 4 samples of flatfish among all 100 seafood samples tested. No antibiotic residues were detected in the 100 livestock product samples tested. The amounts (min-max, mg/kg) of the residual antibiotics were as follows; tetracycline 0.78-0.85, oxytetracycline 0.49-0.74, ciprofloxacin 0.09-0.83, norfloxacin 0.01-0.21, enrofloxacin 0.12-2.98. These data indicate that the total detection rate of antibiotics in livestock and seafood products was approximately 2%.