Optimization of Nicotine Extraction from Tobacco Using Supercritical Fluid Technology with Dynamic Extraction Modeling

The influence of particle size, cell geometry, and packing of the extraction cell was investigated for the extraction of nicotine from tobacco using supercritical CO2 modified with methanol using the hot-ball model of Bartle et al. (1990). When the tobacco was powdered to a particle size of 125−355 μm, the optimum extraction time was reduced by 15 min. Within this particle size range, particle size did not influence the recovery of nicotine so that a time-consuming sieving step is not required. The presence of water during the extraction step, which was introduced either by the packing material or by addition to the mobile phase, is important in order to desorp the nicotine from the cellulose matrix in the shortest possible time. Keywords: Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE); tobacco, nicotine