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Summary Catechins from green tea (Camellia sinensis L.) have received considerable attention due to their beneficial effects on human health, such as antioxidant and anticancer activities. Optimisation of extraction conditions of the catechins from green tea leaves was performed using different solvents (ethanol or distilled water), different extraction methods (ultrasound‐assisted, room temperature or reflux extractions) and various extraction times (0.5–24 h). The optimal extraction conditions were determined using 40% ethanol with ultrasound‐assisted extraction method for 2 h at 40 °C. In addition, two isolation methods for the recovery of catechins from green tea extracts were compared using different solvent combinations (chloroform/ethyl acetate versus ethyl acetate/dichloromethane). The results showed that the ethyl acetate/dichloromethane system could achieve much higher content of catechins than the other isolation approaches, indicating the method that extract catechins first with organic solvent such as ethyl acetate before removing caffeine is much effective than removing caffeine first when organic solvents are used for the recovery of catechins without caffeine from green tea extracts.

A normal spleen is a homogeneous, finely textured, and hyperechoic organ. The development of high‐frequency transducers has enabled the examination of the structural features of the spleen. Thus, the spleen can appear mildly mottled, even in normal dogs, and this could be misinterpreted as an abnormality. The purpose of this prospective, longitudinal, descriptive study was to describe the ultrasonographic pattern of the splenic parenchyma using a high‐frequency transducer in puppies. The study included nine, normal, client‐owned puppies that were born healthy. Transabdominal ultrasonographic examination was performed from 4 to 60 weeks serially every 4 weeks. Ultrasonographic patterns of the spleen were graded as follows: granular, mild reticulonodular, moderate reticulonodular, and marked reticulonodular pattern. The examinations were performed by one veterinary clinician, and the grades of the ultrasonographic patterns were determined by two veterinary clinicians experienced in ultrasonography, based on consensus. Differences and associations between time and the grade of the splenic parenchyma were determined using the paired t‐test and scatter plots. There was a strong quadratic relationship between time and the grade of the splenic parenchyma. It was found that the splenic parenchymal patterns changed with increasing age, with a granular appearance initially at 4 weeks, followed by a reticulonodular pattern with well‐defined hypoechoic nodules—most marked between 28 and 36 weeks, after which this pattern decreased until there was a homogeneous granular pattern again at 60 weeks. These findings should not be misinterpreted as being indicative of a disease in normal puppies, particularly those aged between 28 and 36 weeks.

This experiment was conducted to establish an analytical method for residues of amisulbrom, as recently developed an oomycete-specific fungicide showing inhibition of fungal respiration, in crops using HPLC-UVD/MS. Amisulbrom residue was extracted with acetonitrile from representative samples of five raw products which comprised apple, green pepper, kimchi cabbage, potato and hulled rice. The extract was diluted with 50 mL of saline water and directly partitioned into dichloromethane to remove polar co-extractives in the aqueous phase. For the hulled rice sample, n-hexane/acetonitrile partition was additionally employed to remove non-polar lipids. The extract was finally purified by optimized Florisil column chromatography. On an octadecylsilyl column in HPLC, amisulbrom was successfully separated from sample co-extractives and sensitively quantitated by ultraviolet absorption at 255 nm with no interference. Accuracy and precision of the proposed method was validated by the recovery test on every crop samples fortified with amisulbrom at 3 concentration levels per crop in each triplication. Mean recoveries ranged from 85.3% to 105.6% in five representative agricultural commodities. The coefficients of variation were all less than 10%, irrespective of sample types and fortification levels. Limit of quantitation (LOQ) of amisulbrom was 0.04 mg/kg as verified by the recovery experiment. A confirmatory method using LC/MS with selected-ion monitoring technique was also provided to clearly identify the suspected residue. The proposed method was sensitive, reproducible and easy-to-operate enough to routinely determine the residue of amisulbrom in agricultural commodities.

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A gas chromatographic (GC) method was developed to determine residues of captan, folpet, captafol, and chlorothalonil, known as broad-spectrum protective fungicides for the official purpose. All the fungicide residues were extracted with acetone containing 3% phosphoric acid from representative samples of five agricultural products which comprised rice, soybean, apple, pepper, and cabbage. The extract was diluted with saline, and dichloromethane partition was followed to recover the fungicides from the aqueous phase. Florisil column chromatography was additionally employed for final cleanup of the extracts. The analytes were then determined by gas chromatography using a DB-1 capillary column with electron capture detection. Reproducibility in quantitation was largely enhanced by minimization of adsorption or thermal degradation of analytes during GLC analysis. Mean recoveries generated from each crop sample fortified at two levels in triplicate ranged from 89.0～113.7%. Relative standard deviations (RSD) were all less than 10%, irrespective sample types and fortification levels. As no interference was found in any samples, limit of quantitation (LOQ) was estimated to be 0.008 mg/kg for the analytes except showing higher sensitivity of 0.002 mg/kg for chlorothalonil. GC/Mass spectrometric method using selected-ion monitoring technique was also provided to confirm the suspected residues. The proposed method was reproducible and sensitive enough to determine the residues of captan, folpet, captafol, and chlorothalonil in agricultural commodities for routine analysis.

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