Patent ID: 8887737

Claim:
A method of forming a tobacco solutes-rich liquor in an apparatus, the method comprising: i) extracting tobacco solutes from tobacco by contacting the tobacco with a supercritical extraction solvent while recirculating the supercritical extraction solvent through a first vessel containing tobacco to form a mixture of tobacco and tobacco solutes-containing supercritical extraction solvent, wherein the supercritical extraction solvent comprises a supercritical fluid, and ii) removing the tobacco solutes from the supercritical extraction solvent by contacting the solutes-containing supercritical extraction solvent with an entrapment solvent while recirculating the tobacco solutes-containing supercritical extraction solvent through a second vessel containing the entrapment solvent to form a tobacco solutes-rich liquor, wherein the supercritical fluid is maintained in a supercritical state during said recirculating and said i) extracting and ii) removing, and wherein the tobacco solutes comprise nicotine and at least one tobacco flavor compound and/or at least one tobacco aroma compound, nicotine and the at least one tobacco flavor compound and/or the at least one tobacco aroma compound are simultaneously extracted from the tobacco, and the entrapment solvent is selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, triacetin, glycerin and mixtures thereof.