Research progress on extraction, purification and application of solanesol from tobacco leaves

Currently produced solanesol is often low purity with high pigment contents, negatively influencing the extraction of high-purity solanesol in scale production. This review analyzed solanesol's chemical and physical properties and compared its extraction by supercritical extraction, ultrasonic extraction, microwave extraction and solvent extraction. Methods used to purify crude solanesol to obtain high-purity solanesol and the applications of solanesol in biology and biomedicine were reviewed. The results showed that the equipment and technology of ultrasonic assisted solvent extraction for crude solanesol products were relatively simple. High purity solanesol extractions were mostly based on complex and time-consuming chromatographic technologies. The molecular imprinting method was a potential method for purifying solanesol in the future. Solanesol had great potentials in the fields of biological and pharmaceutical development.