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This paper described a reliable and simple method for the selective determination of MQCA in animal tissues using ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). A highly targeted immunoaffinity column was used for sample purification after enzymatic hydrolysis. The purified extracts were analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC–MS/MS in positive ESI and multiple reaction monitoring mode. The calibration curves showed good linearity with correlation coefficient (r 2 ) larger than 0.995. The average recoveries at the spiked levels of 0.5, 2.0 and 20 μg kg − 1 were 90.2% to 103.5% with intra-day and inter-day relatives standard deviations (RSD, n = 6) ranging from 1.8% to 6.7% and 3.5% to 7.6% respectively. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.5 μg kg − 1 , which can fulfil the maximum residue level (MRL) of 4.0 μg kg − 1 stipulated by the Agricultural Minister of China and the requirement of the confirmatory criteria according to the European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The method is sensitive, accurate, convenient and rapid, and has been successfully applied in real samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]