Rapid screen of 15 basic artificial dyes in fishery products by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry

A new method was established for the simultaneous determination of 15 basic artificial dyes in fishery products by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF MS). The analytes in fishery products were extracted with acetonitrile containing 10% (v/v) acetic acid, then purified by dispersive solid phase extraction with C18-silicone adsorbent. The compounds were separated by a C18 column with acetonitrile and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid-5 mmol/L ammonium acetate solution as the mobile phases, and measured by UPLC-Q-TOF MS with electrospray ionization in positive mode. As a result, the limits of quantification (LOQs, S/N = 10) of the 15 target compounds were 0.1-100 μg/kg in fishery products. The 15 analytes behaved linearly in their respective ranges with the correlation coefficients no less than 0.993. The average recoveries of the 15 analytes spiked at three levels were ranged from 80.60% to 107.37% with the RSDs of 3.33%-6. 69% (n = 6). This method is suitable for routine qualitative and quantitative analyses of the 15 basic artificial dyes in fishery products due to its fastness, simplicity and relatively high sensitivity.