Determination of tobacco alkaloids by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry using cloud point extraction as a preconcentration step

The feasibility of employing cloud point extraction (CPE) as a simple and effective alternative for recovery of alkaloids from tobacco samples followed by GC–MS analysis is demonstrated. An aqueous surfactant solution containing 5% Triton X114 was used for extraction of tobacco alkaloids. Then, the analytes were back-extracted with ultrasonic assistance from the surfactant-rich phase into dichloromethane. No other cleanup step preceded GC–MS analysis. Seven alkaloids in tobacco sample with different concentrations were analyzed simultaneously. Results show that the recovery of nicotine is 80.4% and the limit of detection (LOD) is 7.1 μg g−1. The relative standard deviations for the seven alkaloids are in the range of 2.77–9.97%. The results yielded by the proposed method were almost identical with those achieved by the more laborious industrial standard method, i.e., the continuous flow method.