Simultaneous Extraction and Rapid Analysis by LC–MS–MS of Melamine and Cyanuric Acid

The presence of both melamine and cyanuric acid in concentrations greater than 2 µg/mL results in the crystallization of the two compounds, forming the toxic, poorly water soluble melamine cyanurate complex. Increasingly, governing and regulatory bodies are requiring the testing of both melamine and cyanuric acid in processed food products. Many methods describing the simultaneous analysis of melamine and cyanuric acid have been published, however, to extract both compounds from food samples with the currently accepted method, analysts have to perform two solid-phase extraction procedures using a cation-exchange material and an anion-exchange material, for melamine and cyanuric acid respectively. This article describes a method for the simultaneous extraction of both compounds using one solid-phase extraction sorbent, Strata Melamine, followed by LC–MS–MS analysis using Luna HILIC to accurately measure melamine and cyanuric acid in less than 3 minutes.

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