An extraction method, namely bubble column extraction (BCE), was developed for the rapid and efficient extraction of solanesol from tobacco leaves. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used for qualitative analysis and the reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for quantification analysis. Several parameters, such as extraction solvent, particle size of sample, extraction time, liquor to material ratio and air flow were investigated to find the best extraction conditions. A uniform experimental design Was used to optimize critical parameters (extraction time, liquor to material ratio and air flow). Optimum conditions were that an 80% ethanol was used as extraction solvent with a particle size of less than 350 mu m, an extraction time of 54 min, a liquor to material ratio of 13 L/kg and an air flow of 75 L/min. The optimized BCE was compared with conventional percolation and Soxhlet extraction. The result showed that the BCE gave similar yield of solanesol compared with percolation and Soxhlet. However, the extraction time varied with the different extraction methods. Percolation needed 24 h, Soxhlet extraction needed 6 h, BCE only needed 54 min. Obviously, the advantage of the BCE versus percolation and Soxhlet extraction was the considerable reduction Of extraction time. Therefore, BCE is a fast and efficient method for the extraction of solanesol. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.