Recovery of solanesol from tobacco as a value-added byproduct for alternative applications

Solanesol in the waste streams of a bioprocess designed for alternative applications of low-alkaloid tobacco was recovered using three different extraction methods. Compared to the conventional heat-reflux extraction (HRE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) using 1:3 hexane:ethanol (v/v) as the solvent after saponification treatment of tobacco biomass was found the most effective in terms of solanesol yield, processing time, and volume of solvent consumed. Quantification of solanesol was achieved by optimizing the mobile phase at 60/40 acetonitrile–isopropanol and lowering the oven temperature to 22 °C using a standard reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The total solanesol recovered from tobacco biomass and chloroplast accounted for 30% (w/w) of the total solanesol in the fresh leaves. Since solanesol is the precursor of metabolically active quinones such as coenzyme Q10 and vitamin K analogues, extraction of solanesol from tobacco bioprocess waste is a feasible operation and could leverage the overall profitability of biorefining tobacco for alternative, value-added uses.