Monitoring of benzylpenicillin in ovine milk by HPLC

A method for the determination in vivo of the benzylpenicillin residues in ovine milk at low levels was described.
Two groups of Sardinian breed sheep were treated with a dose of penicillin G sodium salt by intramammary infusion
and intramuscular administration respectively. The residues were detected by isocratic HPLC method of the extracts
obtained from a previous cleanup procedure. Linear calibration plots were obtained over a large concentration range
of 1 mg ml1–10 ng ml1, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.998. Recoveries between 78.6 and 87.3% were
obtained. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of determination (LOQ) were 2.6 and 8.8 ng ml1 respectively. This
method would be useful for routine monitoring of penicillin G residues in ovine dairy milk.