Comparison of volatile and semivolatile compounds from commercial cigarette by supercritical fluid extraction and simultaneous distillation extraction.

Supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction (SFE) was studied as a rapid method for extraction of volatile and semivolatile compounds of Chinese commercial cigarettes. The method was compared with simultaneous distillation and extraction (SDE). Temperature and pressure for the SFE were optimized. The extracts obtained by the two methods showed different characters in composition and represented differently the flavor characteristics of tobacco; compared to SDE, SFE can extract compounds within a shorter time and avoid the thermal degradation and solvent contamination of samples. The extracts by the two extraction methods are complementary for investigating the flavor characteristic of tobacco products.