Oasis PRiME HLB Food Applications Notebook

Significance of the Topic

Modern food safety analysis demands robust methods to detect trace contaminants across diverse and complex matrices. Co-extracted interferences such as fats, phospholipids, pigments, and other lipophilic compounds can compromise chromatography, shorten column and instrument lifetime, and suppress analyte signals in both LC-MS and GC-MS workflows. Efficient sample cleanup is therefore critical to ensuring sensitivity, reproducibility, and long-term instrument uptime in multi-residue analyses for veterinary drugs, pesticides, mycotoxins, and other contaminants in foods ranging from meats and dairy to fruits, vegetables, grains, and plant tissues.

Objectives and Study Overview

This series of application notes demonstrates the integration of a novel reversed-phase sorbent, Oasis PRiME HLB, into streamlined pass-through cleanup protocols for a wide variety of food matrices. Key goals include:

• Removing major interferences (fats, phospholipids, pigments) in a single SPE step.
• Preserving high recoveries for multi-class analytes (veterinary drugs, pesticides, mycotoxins).
• Demonstrating compatibility with diverse analytical platforms (UPLC-MS/MS, APGC-MS/MS, UPLC-PDA).

Methodology and Instrumentation

Sample preparation typically involves:

• Initial extraction with acidified acetonitrile or standard QuEChERS solvents to precipitate proteins and extract analytes.
• Simple pass-through cleanup using Oasis PRiME HLB Cartridges (no conditioning required), available in “Vac” and syringe-compatible “Plus” formats.
• Optional dispersive SPE for removal of residual polar interferences.

Analytical determination was performed on:

• Waters ACQUITY UPLC systems coupled to Xevo TQ-S or TQ-S micro mass spectrometers for tandem MS detection.
• APGC-MS/MS for GC-amenable pesticides.
• UPLC-PDA for pigment monitoring.

Main Results and Discussion

Across all matrices—including meat, milk, seafood, infant formula, eggs, avocado, cereal grains, bovine liver, and spinach—the Oasis PRiME HLB pass-through step consistently removed over 90% of co-extracted fats and over 95% of phospholipids or pigments. Recoveries for target analytes in multi-residue screens typically exceeded 80% with relative standard deviations below 15%, even for challenging classes such as tetracyclines or planar pesticides that suffer losses with traditional graphitized carbon cleanup.

Benefits and Practical Applications

The Oasis PRiME HLB workflow delivers:

• Rapid sample processing (eliminating conditioning and centrifugation steps).
• Universal cleanup across a broad analyte spectrum and sample types.
• Lesser instrument contamination, fewer maintenance cycles, and higher throughput.

Future Trends and Opportunities

Emerging directions include the development of high-capacity HLB formats for ultra-trace analysis, automation of SPE protocols, expansion into novel sorbent chemistries for even broader interference removal, and integration with high-resolution mass spectrometry to further streamline compliance testing in an evolving regulatory landscape.

Conclusion

The Oasis PRiME HLB sorbent, when applied in simple pass-through cartridge formats, provides a powerful, universal cleanup solution for multi-residue food safety testing. Its ease of use, high cleanup efficiency, and analyte-friendly performance make it a valuable tool for laboratories seeking robust, high-throughput workflows across varied food matrices.

References

1. Young MS, Tran K. Oasis PRiME HLB Cartridge for Effective Cleanup of Meat Extracts Prior to Multi-Residue Veterinary Drug UPLC-MS Analysis. Waters Application Brief 2015;720005411EN.
2. Lehotay SJ. High-Throughput UHPLC-MS/MS Screening of >60 Veterinary Drugs in Animal Tissues. Presented at AOAC Annual Meeting 2011.
3. Young MS, Tran K. Rapid, Simple, and Effective Cleanup of Seafood Extracts Prior to UPLC-MS/MS Multiresidue Veterinary Drugs Analysis. Waters Application Note 2015;720005488EN.
4. Young MS, Shia JC. Oasis PRiME HLB Cartridge for Rapid and Effective Cleanup of Avocado for APGC-MS/MS Analysis. Waters Application Note 2016;720005816EN.
5. Young MS, Tran K. Oasis PRiME HLB Cartridges and DisQuE QuEChERS Products for UPLC-MS/MS Mycotoxin Analysis in Cereal Grains. Waters Technology Brief 2017;720005893EN.
6. Young MS, Tran K. Rapid, Simple, and Effective Cleanup of Bovine Liver Samples Prior to UPLC-MS/MS Multiresidue Veterinary Drugs Analysis. Waters Application Note 2017;720005887EN.
7. Young MS, Shia JC. Oasis PRiME HLB Cartridges for Rapid and Effective Removal of Chlorophyll from QuEChERS Spinach Extracts. Waters Technology Brief 2017;720005994EN.
8. Young MS, Shia JC. Oasis PRiME HLB Cartridges Now Available in Syringe Compatible Plus Format. Waters Technology Brief 2017;720006017EN.