Establishment of an LC–MS/MS-based analytical method for the determination of taurine in eggs and tissues

作者：Jia Yang, Liyuan Zhao, Jiajie Gao, Kehan Ma, Wenjie Tian, Huihui Tian, Nana I Tchana, Chaohua Tang, Qingyu Zhao, Yujie Qin, Kai Zhang, Junmin Zhang, Yanan Yu · 发表于：Journal of Food Composition and Analysis · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1016/j.jfca.2026.109163 · 研究领域：Aldose Reductase and Taurine、Polyamine Metabolism and Applications、Environmental Chemistry and Analysis

Taurine plays important physiological roles, and accurate determination of taurine is essential for related nutritional and biological studies. Because taurine concentration in egg yolk is relatively low, sensitive analytical methods are required for its reliable quantification. The present study established a simple, derivatization-free liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for taurine determination in multiple matrices from laying hens, including egg yolk, serum, ovary, and oviductal isthmus. The method showed high sensitivity, with a limit of detection of 0.05 ng/mL and a limit of quantification of 0.17 ng/mL. Hy-Line Brown laying hens aged 58 weeks were assigned to one control group and three treatment groups receiving 500, 1000, or 2000 mg/kg taurine in the basal diet. The baseline taurine concentration in egg yolk was 15.19 μg/g. Yolk taurine content stabilized after 6 weeks of supplementation and reached 64.64 μg/g in the 2000 mg/kg group at week 12. Taurine concentrations in serum, ovary, and oviductal isthmus also increased to 27.65 mg/L, 1095.52 μg/g, and 1320.40 μg/g, respectively. These findings indicate that this method provides a rapid and sensitive tool for taurine determination and supports further investigation of taurine deposition in eggs and reproductive tissues.