Solanesol is a long-chain terpenoid alcohol mainly existing in tobacco leaves. It is a useful starting material for the synthesis of high-value biochemicals. It can be extracted with supercritical CO2, but nicotine is co-extracted, which may be hazardous. In this work, operating conditions to obtain a solanesol-rich extract from tobacco leaves with high solanesol/nicotine ratios were optimized. The ranges of extraction temperatures and pressures were 25-60 degrees C and 8-25 MPa, respectively. GC coupled with MS detection was used to characterize the extracts, and free solanesol was identified and quantified as its trimethylsilyl derivative. Solanesol/nicotine ratios varied from 18 to 4. Average yields of solanesol were 0.188 mg/mg of extract. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.