Solanesol is an important pharmaceutical intermediate and the production process needs to be improved.

Solanesol, also known as nonapolysoprene primary alcohol and solanesol, is a long-chain hemiterpene alcohol compound mainly found in tobacco, potatoes and other Solanaceae plants. Solanesol has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, anti-cancer and other biological activities, and can be used as a synthetic raw material for some anti-allergic drugs, anti-ulcer drugs, hypolipidemic drugs and anti-cancer drugs. Solanesol is also an important pharmaceutical intermediate and an irreplaceable natural raw material for the synthesis of ubiquinone drugs such as vitamin K2 and coenzyme Q10.

The main raw material for solanesol production is waste tobacco leaves. Tobacco leaves like light, temperature and humidity, and are suitable for growing in loose, fertile, humus-rich red soil or yellow soil. my country’s tobacco leaf planting industry is mainly concentrated in the southwest region with a humid climate and wide red soil area and the central plains area with fertile loess, such as Yunnan , Guizhou, Sichuan, Henan and other provinces. my country is a major tobacco producer. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, my country’s tobacco leaf planting area will reach 10.1292 million hectares in 2022, and the output will reach 2.1881 million tons.

According to the “2023-2028 China Solanesol Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, According to the different state of the finished product and solanesol content, solanesol products are mainly divided into three categories: solanesol extract, fine solanesol and pure solanesol. The solanesol content in solanesol extract is about 17% to 90%, which appears as a tan paste. It is mainly used for finishing to produce higher purity solanesol; fine solanesol Contains a small amount of impurities. The purity of solanesol is about 90% to 95%, which appears as a light yellow powder or solid, and is often used as a base for cosmetics. The purity of pure solanesol is greater than 95%, which mostly appears as a white powder or waxy solid. , widely used in the pharmaceutical field as an essential intermediate for a variety of drugs.

Solanesol can be synthesized using chemical methods, but it is difficult to produce on a large scale. Therefore, domestic solanesol production is still mainly extracted from tobacco. The main production processes of solanesol include molecular distillation, column chromatography, thiourea inclusion method, solvent extraction, etc. The molecular distillation method is simple to operate, but the equipment is expensive and the product purity is not high, and further refinement is required; the column chromatography method requires the use of a large amount of chemical solvents, has strict operating requirements and a long production cycle; the thiourea encapsulation method also requires a large amount of organic solvents and Chemical raw materials have high production costs, low product purity, and low production efficiency; the organic solvent used in the solvent extraction method can be recycled and reused multiple times. It is more green and environmentally friendly than other processes, but the efficiency of extracting solanesol is low, the operation steps are cumbersome, and the production higher cost. At present, solvent extraction method is commonly used in the production of solanesol in China.

At present, there are only a small number of solanesol manufacturers in my country, including Henan Shuntian Biotechnology, Yunnan Zhonghai Lude Technology, Guizhou Huiteng Technology, etc. Most of these solanesol companies are located near the main tobacco production areas to reduce the transportation cost of raw materials in production. Industry analysts said that in the future development of solanol companies in my country, priority should be given to improving the production process, reducing production costs and improving product purity. Improve production efficiency and drive the overall development of the solanesol industry in the direction of high efficiency and high quality.