A study of the kinetics of semicarbazide and nitrofurazone in chicken eggs and egg powders

Kevin Mark Cooper (1) , Le Jian (2) , Christine Kane (3) , David Glenn Kennedy (4)

1 Department of Veterinary Science
2 Chemical Division
3 CAFRE
4 VSD, AFBI

The accumulation, depletion and partitioning of semicarbazide (SEM) and its parent compound nitrofurazone (NFZ) in eggs were studied using hens fed NFZ at therapeutic and sub-therapeutic levels. Dietary NFZ correlated strongly with NFZ and total SEM in eggs, while 28% of observed SEM was present in the form of parent NFZ. Depletion half-life in eggs was 2.4 days for SEM and 1.1 days for NFZ. NFZ accumulated preferentially in the yolk (57-63%) as opposed to albumen, while 71-80% of SEM was found in yolk. In whole egg, 29% of SEM was present as tissue-bound residues compared with 80% in breast muscle. Whilst NFZ and SEM were partly degraded by pasteurisation and spray drying, sufficient NFZ remained to suggest it may be detectable in egg powders when SEM is observed at low µg kg-1 concentrations. NFZ was detectable in whole eggs during ingestion of only 0.1% of the therapeutic NFZ dose, making detection of intact NFZ in eggs a feasible means to prove conclusively the administration of this banned compound.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Kevin Mark Cooper, Le Jian, Christine Kane, David Glenn Kennedy. A study of the kinetics of semicarbazide and nitrofurazone in chicken eggs and egg powders. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2008, 25 (06), pp.684-692. ⟨10.1080/02652030701822060⟩. ⟨hal-00577441⟩