Tylosin Residue in Chicken: Detection with ELISA, Four Plate Test, HPLC, Effect of Heat Treatment and implications for Human Health

Tylosin residues (TR) in chicken meat pose potential health risks to consumers. This study aimed to detect and quantify TR in chicken tissues from Ikpa slaughterhouse, Nsukka and evaluate the effect of heat treatment on TR concentrations. Sixty randomly sampled chicken were processed, and their muscle, liver, and kidney tissues were collected and tested for TR at raw and after ten, fifteen , and twenty minutes of cooking and microwaving using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), four plate test (FPT), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Of the 180 tissues, 93 (51.7%) were positive for TR. The prevalence of TR was 40% in muscles, 55% in liver, and 60% were in kidney samples with ELISA. Six liver samples exceeded the maximum residue level (MRL) of100 µg/kg. Cooking and microwaving reduced TR concentrations by 97-100% in muscle and liver tissues using HPLC. The mean inhibition zones decreased by 87-100% after cooking and microwaving using FPT. Chicken at Ikpa slaughterhouse, Nsukka have TR even in concentrations above the MRL but were significantly eliminated (p ˂ 0.05) after 20 minutes of heat treatments (cooking or microwaving). Hence, mitigating the health risks associated with TR in meat requires regular screening and quantification, public awareness campaigns targeting consumers of raw or improperly cooked chicken, strict policies on antibiotics use in poultry, and enhanced meat handling and processing practices in food industry.