Determination of atropine and scopolamine in honey using a miniaturized polymer-based solid-phase extraction protocol prior to the analysis by HPLC-MS/MS

Abstract

Two homopolymers have been prepared employing methacrylic acid and 4-vynylpiridine as functional monomers (p-MAA, p-4-VP) through an easy and quick precipitation polymerization method for application as sorbents in solid-phase extraction (SPE) to determine atropine and scopolamine in honey. The optimized SPE conditions were as follows: 25 mg of p-MAA, 4 mL of sample loading volume (diluted honey 1:10 with water), 4 mL of elution solvent (methanol/water with 1 % formic acid, 80/20, v/v). The extracts were analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS. The cartridges were reusable for forty cycles demonstrating an environmentally friendly approach. The methodology was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy, precision, selectivity, matrix effect and sensibility, highlighting the absence of matrix effect. The miniaturized polymer-based SPE was successfully applied to fifteen honeys, showing concentrations up to 7.23 ng/g in the most contaminated honey. All quantified honey samples (5 in total) were of multifloral type.