Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Nicotiana tabacum Leaves: Optimization of Extraction Yield and Nicotine Content

Abstract

The employment of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction for obtaining the chemical compounds from N. tabacum leaves, especially nicotine, is advancing. The supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of dried N. tabacum cv. Samsun and N. tabacum cv. Virginia at different process parameters was performed to obtain the highest extraction yield and nicotine relative amount. The optimal extraction conditions concerning the highest extraction yield and nicotine relative amount were determined by response surface methodology. The highest extraction yield for N. tabacum cv. Samsun was 2.99% and for N. tabacum cv. Virginia 2.33% at 23.41 MPa, 50 °C and 90 min of extraction time. The highest nicotine relative amount in N. tabacum cv. Samsun and N. tabacum cv. Virginia was at 15 MPa, 50 °C and 90 min extraction time and was 242.1 mg per 100 g of plant material and 32.4 mg per 100 g of plant material, respectively. The pressure, temperature and time influenced the extraction yield and nicotine relative amount recovery in N. tabacum cv. Samsun and N. tabacum cv. Virginia. A general inclusive concept in respect to pressure, temperature and time of the supercritical carbon dioxide extraction and a report on phytochemicals present in two N. tabacum varieties is presented.

Extraction and Purification of Nicotine from Tobacco Rhizomes by Supercritical CO2

“…The highest extraction rate, 0.49%, was obtained by extracting tobacco rhizome powder dispersed with five times the volume of 90% ethanol at 65 °C and 25 MPa. Compared to tobacco leaves, which contain about 3% nicotine [ 13 ], Zimbabwean tobacco roots contain only one-sixth of the amount of nicotine found in tobacco leaves. Previous studies have shown that 50 °C is the optimal temperature for the extraction of nicotine from tobacco by SC-CO 2 [ 13 , 32 ].…”

“…Compared to tobacco leaves, which contain about 3% nicotine [ 13 ], Zimbabwean tobacco roots contain only one-sixth of the amount of nicotine found in tobacco leaves. Previous studies have shown that 50 °C is the optimal temperature for the extraction of nicotine from tobacco by SC-CO 2 [ 13 , 32 ]. However, in this experiment, the nicotine yield did not stabilise until the temperature reached 60–65 °C.…”

“…Due to the high extraction efficiency of SC-CO 2 technology, the purity of nicotine in the crude extract was already about 60%. In addition to nicotine, the crude tobacco rhizome extract also contained palmitic acid, oleic acid, and oleic acid derivatives [ 8 , 13 ]. This is different from tobacco leaves extract, which contains other active plant substances, such as solanesol, rutin, and so on.…”

“…The fraction in the separator kettle was collected to obtain the tobacco rhizome extract after completion of the extraction. In addition to the experimental factors focused on in this study, the extraction time and pressure, which were not the key factors for this study, used in the experiments were summarised from previous studies [ 13 , 25 , 32 , 35 ]. The range of extraction time for this study was typically 60–120 min, depending on the instrument size and sample quality.…”

“…In 2022, Djapic et al, extracted nicotine from two types of tobacco leaves individually and optimised the experimental conditions using the SC-CO 2 extraction technique. Their extracted nicotine-to-raw material dry weight ratios of 2.33% and 2.99%, respectively [ 13 ]. This method can also be applied for treating secondary tobacco leaves found in tobacco waste as well as powdered leaves.…”