Semi-solid smoke-generating substrate and preparation method therefor

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of heat-not-burn tobacco products, and provides a semi-solid smoke-generating substrate. The smoke-generating substrate comprises a gel matrix, a smoke-generating material and a fragrance material, wherein the smoke-generating material and the fragrance material are loaded onto the gel matrix. By using the gel matrix as a base material of the smoke-generating substrate and loading onto the gel matrix the smoke-generating material that has a smoke-generating ability and the fragrance material that is used for enriching the smoking experience, the smoke-generating material and the fragrance material on the gel matrix can be uniformly distributed. Furthermore, the smoke-generating substrate exhibits a jelly-like semi-solid form; and compared with existing solid smoke-generating substrates made of materials such as cut tobacco and tobacco granules, same has a lower heating temperature, a higher puff count and also more controllable smoking stability per puff. Also provided is a method for preparing a semi-solid smoke-generating substrate.

Description

Semi-solid smoking substrate and method of making the same

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] The present disclosure claims priority to the application No. 2024113052031, filed on September 19, 2024, with the Chinese Patent Office, and entitled “Semi-solid smoking substrate and method of making the same”, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of heat-not-burn tobacco products, in particular, to a semi-solid smoking substrate and a method of making the same. BACKGROUND

[0004] New tobacco products mainly include electronic atomization cigarettes, heat-not-burn cigarettes, and smokeless products such as oral tobacco, nasal tobacco, chewing tobacco, etc. Among them, electronic atomization cigarettes and heat-not-burn cigarettes are similar in form, both having a smoking body and a heating device. The main difference between the two lies in the difference in the form of the smoking body and the difference in the temperature control mechanism of the heating device. Specifically, the smoking body of the electronic atomization cigarette is a liquid, and the main effective components include a solvent and a flavoring essence. Among them, the solvent mainly uses propylene glycol and glycerol, and the flavoring essence mainly provides the smoking body with the experience of aroma and strength, etc. Since the boiling point of the smoking body of the electronic atomization cigarette is relatively low, the heating device only needs to provide relatively low energy to achieve smoking, and the heating process basically does not involve complex temperature control. The smoking body of the heat-not-burn cigarette is a solid cigarette form. Since the smoking substrate is mainly one or more of tobacco sheet, cut stem, tobacco and tobacco particles, the components of the smoking substrate are relatively complex, and the heating device needs to provide more energy, and also needs to control the temperature relatively accurately for the sensory experience of each puff, so the quality control precision requirement is high. Therefore, it is urgent to provide a smoking substrate suitable for heat-not-burn cigarettes, which has good smoking effect and is convenient for quality control.

[0005] In view of this, the present disclosure is proposed. SUMMARY

[0006] The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a semi-solid smoking substrate and a method of making the same.

[0007] The present disclosure is implemented as follows:

[0008] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a semi-solid smoking substrate, comprising a gel matrix, a smoking material and an aroma material, the smoking material and the aroma material being loaded on the gel matrix.

[0009] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for preparing the smoking substrate as in the preceding embodiments, comprising: shaping a gel raw material after gelation to obtain a shaped gel base; immersing the shaped gel base in a coating liquid to obtain a modified gel base; and then placing the modified gel base in a solution of the gel raw material to swell; the material of the coating liquid comprising a smoking material and an aroma material.

[0010] The present disclosure has the following beneficial effects:

[0011] The present disclosure provides a semi-solid smoking substrate and a method for preparing the same. The gel base is used as the main material of the smoking substrate, and the smoking material with smoking ability and the aroma material for rich smoking experience are loaded on the gel base. The smoking material and the aroma material on the gel base can be uniformly distributed, and the smoking substrate presents a semi-solid state. Compared with the existing solid smoking substrate made of tobacco shreds and tobacco particles, the smoking substrate has a lower heating temperature, more puffs, and more controllable smoking stability. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the examples, but those skilled in the art will understand that the following examples are only used to illustrate the present disclosure and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. The specific conditions are not specified in the examples, and the conventional conditions or the conditions recommended by the manufacturer are used. The reagents or instruments used are not specified by the manufacturer, and are conventional products that can be purchased on the market.

[0013] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a semi-solid smoking substrate, comprising a gel base, a smoking material, and an aroma material, the smoking material and the aroma material being loaded on the gel base.

[0014] In an optional embodiment, the gel base has a three-dimensional network porous structure and can efficiently load effective components.

[0015] Preferably, the raw material of the gel base comprises any one of polysaccharides or cellulose and derivatives thereof.

[0016] Preferably, the polysaccharides include, but are not limited to, any one of chitosan, agarose, gelatin, starch, guar gum, and konjac gum.

[0017] Since the semi-solid smoking substrate provided by the present disclosure is heated and inhaled orally, the safety of the gel base needs to be prioritized. Although many materials can form a gel, not all gels can be used as a smoking substrate. The present disclosure controls the raw material of the gel base within the above range, and the obtained smoking substrate is harmless itself and does not produce harmful substances during the heating process.

[0018] The loading amount of the smoking material on the gel matrix is 10% to 50%, and the loading amount of the aroma material on the gel matrix is 1% to 150%.

[0019] Chitosan is a product of removing part of acetyl groups from chitin, a natural polysaccharide. Chitosan has many physiological functions such as non-toxicity, antibacterial, anticancer, lipid-lowering, and immune enhancement. Chitosan also has many unique properties such as biodegradability, cell affinity, and biological effects. Chitosan is widely used in many fields such as food additives, textiles, agriculture, environmental protection, beauty and health care, cosmetics, antibacterial agents, medical fibers, medical dressings, artificial tissue materials, drug release materials, gene transduction vectors, biological medical fields, medical absorbable materials, tissue engineering carrier materials, medical treatment, and drug development.

[0020] Although chitosan has a wide range of applications, its application in the tobacco field, especially in new tobacco products, is still very limited. Currently, the main role of chitosan in the tobacco field is as an auxiliary material such as an adhesive, which is used to bond different materials.

[0021] In order to further expand the application range of chitosan, the inventors have proposed the above-mentioned semi-solid smoking substrate after long-term research. The smoking substrate presents a semi-solid state like ice, which not only facilitates the preparation of smoking substrates of various shapes and sizes, but also provides a good foundation for the loading of smoking materials and aroma materials, ensuring that the smoking materials and aroma materials are evenly distributed on the smoking substrate, which is beneficial to improve the stability of each puffing experience.

[0022] At the same time, the existing smoking substrates on the market are all solid and liquid, and there is no semi-solid smoking substrate, which provides a new idea for the diversification of smoking substrates. Further, the inventors have found that the semi-solid smoking substrate can load more smoking materials and aroma materials compared to the same volume of solid smoking substrate, and the uniformity of each puffing is better, which can significantly improve the number of puffs.

[0023] Therefore, the semi-solid smoking substrate provided by the present disclosure not only can expand the application field of chitosan, but also can provide a new form of smoking substrate, and at the same time, this smoking substrate can also improve the number of puffs, has good puffing stability, and can be used as a smoking body for heated cigarettes, enriching the types of products.

[0024] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for preparing the smoking substrate as described in the preceding embodiments, which comprises gelating the gel raw material and shaping it to obtain a shaped gel matrix, immersing the shaped gel matrix in a coating liquid to obtain a modified gel matrix, and then swelling the modified gel matrix in a solution of the gel raw material.

[0025] The material of the coating solution includes smoking material and aroma material.

[0026] By immersing the shaped gel matrix in the coating solution before swelling, a portion of the smoking material and aroma material is pre-loaded on the surface of the shaped gel matrix, and then the swelling is performed, so that the pre-loaded smoking material and aroma material can enter the interior of the shaped gel matrix as the volume of the shaped gel matrix expands, and the loading amount of the smoking material and aroma material is increased.

[0027] In an optional embodiment, the swollen gel matrix is immersed in the coating solution again to load more smoking material and aroma material.

[0028] Preferably, the immersion time of the swollen gel matrix in the coating solution is 24-72 h to load more smoking material and aroma material.

[0029] In an optional embodiment, the volume expansion rate of the modified gel matrix during the swelling process is 150-350%, so as to ensure that the material obtained after swelling has a certain strength and the loading capacity is increased.

[0030] Preferably, the swelling time of the modified gel matrix is 3-24 h.

[0031] In an optional embodiment, the shaped gel matrix is immersed in the coating solution for 6-48 h to load the smoking material and aroma material in the coating solution on the gel matrix.

[0032] Preferably, the mass ratio of the smoking material to the aroma material in the coating solution is 1:0.1-15. The ratio of the smoking material to the aroma material can be adjusted according to the taste requirements of the heated cigarette.

[0033] In an optional embodiment, the gel raw material is chitosan. In other embodiments, the gel raw material can also be other materials, such as polysaccharides such as agarose, gelatin, starch, guar gum and konjac gum, or cellulose and its derivatives, etc.

[0034] When the gel raw material is chitosan, the preparation of the shaped gel matrix includes: dissolving chitosan in an acidic solution, then adding an electrolyte solution to perform a gelation reaction to obtain an amorphous gel, and then shaping and drying the amorphous gel.

[0035] The free hydrogen ions in the acidic solution react with the amino groups of chitosan to protonate the amino groups of chitosan, and chitosan is dissolved. When the electrolyte solution is added, the solubility of chitosan decreases, and a gel is formed in the system, but the gel is in an amorphous state and has a high water content, so a mold is needed for shaping and drying.

[0036] In an alternative embodiment, the concentration of chitosan in the acidic solution is 0.5% to 1.0%, and the degree of deacetylation of chitosan is greater than or equal to 90%.

[0037] Preferably, the solute of the acidic solution comprises any one of hydrochloric acid, formic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, malic acid and ascorbic acid. The acidic solution can be any one of concentrated hydrochloric acid, nitric acid or phosphoric acid as long as it can dissolve chitosan, for example, chitosan can be dissolved in concentrated hydrochloric acid, nitric acid or phosphoric acid under the condition of long time heating and stirring.

[0038] Preferably, the concentration of the solute in the acidic solution is 0.4% to 1.0%.

[0039] In an alternative embodiment, the negative ions in the electrolyte solution comprise any one of SO4 2- , C4H4O6 2- and CH3COO - . For example, the electrolyte solution can be a sodium sulfate solution.

[0040] Preferably, the molar concentration of the solute in the electrolyte solution is 0.5M to 2.0M, and the pH is 8.5 to 13.0.

[0041] In an alternative embodiment, when chitosan is used as a gel raw material, the reaction time of the gelation reaction is 0.5h to 2h, which ensures that chitosan can be fully gelled, and slow stirring is maintained during the reaction to promote the gelation process of chitosan and prevent the shape of the gel from being destroyed.

[0042] Preferably, the process of shaping and drying comprises placing the amorphous gel in a mold and drying the amorphous gel in the mold. The amorphous gel after the reaction is completed is soft and unshaped, so a mold is needed to assist in shaping, for example, a cylindrical mold or a heart-shaped, five-pointed star-shaped and prismatic mold can be used to shape the amorphous gel.

[0043] By using molds of different shapes, gel matrices of different shapes can be obtained, so that the process of preparing the semi-solid smoking substrate provided by the present disclosure is more convenient and the shaping capacity is better for the use requirements of some special-shaped smoking substrates.

[0044] Preferably, the drying temperature is 45℃ to 65℃, and the drying time is 5h to 12h. The drying process is to shape the amorphous gel to obtain a shaped gel matrix with the same shape as the mold, which provides a basis for the subsequent loading of smoking materials and aroma materials.

[0045] Example 1

[0046] The present embodiment provides a preparation method of a semi-solid smoking substrate, comprising the following steps:

[0047] Chitosan was dissolved in an acetic acid solution with a concentration of 0.4% to obtain an acidic chitosan solution, wherein the concentration of chitosan was 0.5%.

[0048] Under low-speed stirring, an alkaline sodium sulfate solution (0.5 M molar amount) was slowly added dropwise to an acidic chitosan solution, with a pH of 8.5. During the addition of sodium sulfate, the chitosan underwent a gelation reaction, resulting in an amorphous gel within the system. Stirring was maintained during the addition process. After 0.5 hours of reaction, the mixture was filtered, and the amorphous gel was collected. This amorphous gel was then placed in a mold and dried to obtain the shaped gel matrix. The drying temperature was 45°C, and the drying time was 12 hours.

[0049] The shaped gel matrix was immersed in a coating solution containing 30% smoke-generating agent and 70% fragrance for 6 hours. A portion of the smoke-generating material and fragrance material was preloaded onto the surface of the shaped gel matrix before swelling.

[0050] The swelling process involves immersing a shaped gel matrix loaded with fuming and aroma materials in the aforementioned acidic chitosan solution for 12 hours to obtain the gel matrix. During the swelling process in the acidic chitosan solution, the volume expansion rate of the shaped gel matrix is ​​150%.

[0051] The gel matrix is ​​immersed in the coating solution for 24 hours, then removed and dried at low temperature to obtain a semi-solid fuming substrate.

[0052] Example 2

[0053] This embodiment provides a method for preparing a semi-solid smoking substrate, comprising the following steps:

[0054] Chitosan was dissolved in an acetic acid solution with a concentration of 1.0% to obtain an acidic chitosan solution, wherein the concentration of chitosan was 1.0%.

[0055] Under low-speed stirring, an alkaline sodium sulfate solution (2.0 M molar amount) was slowly added dropwise to an acidic chitosan solution, with a pH of 13.0. During the addition of sodium sulfate, the chitosan underwent a gelation reaction, resulting in an amorphous gel within the system. Stirring was maintained during the addition process. After 2 hours of reaction, the mixture was filtered, and the amorphous gel was collected. This amorphous gel was then placed in a mold and dried to obtain the shaped gel matrix. The drying temperature was 65°C, and the drying time was 5 hours.

[0056] The shaped gel matrix was immersed in a coating solution containing 50% smoke-generating agent and 150% fragrance for 48 hours. A portion of the smoke-generating material and fragrance material was preloaded onto the surface of the shaped gel matrix before swelling.

[0057] Swelling includes soaking the shaped gel matrix loaded with smoke generating material and aroma material in acidic chitosan solution for 24h to obtain a gel matrix. During the swelling process of the shaped gel matrix in the acidic chitosan solution, the volume expansion rate is 350%.

[0058] Soaking the gel matrix in the coating liquid for 72h, and drying at low temperature after taking out, to obtain a semi-solid smoke generating substrate.

[0059] Example 3

[0060] The present example provides a method for preparing a semi-solid smoke generating substrate, comprising the following steps:

[0061] Dissolve agarose in water with a concentration of 1.5%.

[0062] Heat it to 100℃ until the agarose is completely dissolved, and then cool and shape in a mold to obtain a shaped gel matrix.

[0063] Soak the shaped gel matrix in a coating liquid containing 20% smoke generating agent and 50% flavoring spices for 36h, and dry the surface at low temperature after taking out, to obtain a semi-solid smoke generating substrate.

[0064] Comparative Example 1

[0065] The present comparative example provides a method for preparing a solid smoke generating substrate, comprising the following steps:

[0066] Accurately weigh 1g guar gum, 3g sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and 350g water, and shear through an emulsification device at 10000rpm for 5min until no obvious gel particles are formed to form a glue solution; then gradually add 50g (water content 90%) fluff pulp fiber, 23g glycerol, 20g lemon flavor, 70g Kunming red large tobacco powder with a particle size of 120 mesh and 1g light calcium carbonate to the glue solution, and shear through the emulsification device at 15000rpm for 10min, and adjust the water amount to make the viscosity of the coating liquid in the range of 2000±500mp﹒s; eliminate bubbles through a vacuum negative pressure device at 1.0Mpa for 10min to form a coating liquid; uniformly coat the coating liquid on the freshly added stripping agent through a thick pulp method reconstituted tobacco leaf pilot platform, and then dry through the drying mechanism of the pilot platform to make the product moisture content reach the range of 10±2%, and then peel off to obtain a thick pulp method smoke generating substrate.

[0067] Test Example 1

[0068] The smoking substrates provided by Examples 1-3 and Comparative Example 1 were subjected to smoking performance tests as smoking segments of heat-not-burn cigarettes. The cigarette structures were all 8mm acetate fiber + 22mm hollow acetate fiber rod + 12mm smoking substrate as the cigarette core, with a total length of 42mm and a diameter of about 7.0mm. After the cigarettes were made, continuous smoking was performed using a peripheral heating device (with a limit of 14 puffs or 3min of heating time, and the heating device was automatically turned off, then manually started), and the smoke concentration detection equipment was used to investigate the smoke concentration continuity, and the results are shown in Table 1.

[0069] Table 1: Smoking performance of smoking substrates

[0070] As can be seen from Table 1, the smoke continuity of each example is different, and forms a significant contrast with the comparative example. The number of puffs of all examples of the present disclosure is much higher than that of the comparative example. The reason is that the total loading amount of the smoking agent and the flavoring agent of the smoking substrate prepared by the thick slurry method is less, so the number of puffs and the smoke continuity are the worst.

[0071] The smoking substrate provided by the present disclosure can load more smoking agents and tobacco active components through the gelled carrier, compared with the solid smoking core material, and has obvious advantages in smoke continuity.

[0072] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. For those skilled in the art, the present disclosure can have various modifications and changes. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure shall be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure. Industrial applicability

[0073] The present disclosure provides a semi-solid smoking substrate and a preparation method thereof. The smoking material and the aroma material are uniformly distributed on the gel matrix, and the whole smoking substrate presents a jelly-like semi-solid form, so that it requires a lower heating temperature, has more puffs, and the stability of each puff is more controllable.

Claims

1. A semi-solid smoke emitting substrate, characterized in that, The gel base, the smoke-generating material and the aroma material are included.

2. The smoking substrate of claim 1, wherein, The gel base has a three-dimensional network porous structure.

3. The smoking substrate of claim 1, wherein, The raw material of the gel base includes any one of polysaccharides or cellulose and its derivatives.

4. The smoking substrate of claim 3, wherein, The polysaccharides include any one of chitosan, agarose, gelatin, starch, guar gum and konjac gum.

5. The smoking substrate of claim 1, wherein, The loading amount of the smoke-generating material on the gel base is 10% to 50%, and the loading amount of the aroma material on the gel base is 1% to 150%.

6. A process for the production of a smoking substrate as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that, The gel base is shaped after being gelled, and then the shaped gel base is immersed in a coating liquid to obtain a modified gel base, and then the modified gel base is placed in a solution of the gel raw material for swelling. The material of the coating liquid includes the smoke-generating material and the aroma material. The gel base is again immersed in the coating liquid after swelling.

7. The production method according to claim 6, characterized by, The immersion time of the swollen gel base in the coating liquid is 24h to 72h. During the swelling process, the volume expansion rate of the modified gel base is 150% to 350%; 8. The preparation method according to claim 7, characterized in that, And / or, the swelling time of the modified gel base is 3h to 24h.

9. The preparation method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The immersion time of the shaped gel base in the coating liquid is 6h to 48h. The mass ratio of the smoke-generating material to the aroma material in the coating liquid is 1:0.1 to 15.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein, The gel raw material is chitosan; when the gel raw material is chitosan, the preparation of the shaped gel base includes: dissolving chitosan in an acidic solution, and then adding an electrolyte solution for a gelation reaction to obtain an amorphous gel, shaping and drying the amorphous gel.

11. The preparation method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The degree of deacetylation of the chitosan is ≥90%, and the concentration of the chitosan in the acidic solution is 0.5% to 1.0%.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein, The solute of the acidic solution includes any one of hydrochloric acid, formic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, malic acid and ascorbic acid; 13. The method of claim 12, wherein, And / or, the concentration of the solute in the acidic solution is 0.4% to 1.0%.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein, And / or, the molar mass of the solute in the electrolyte solution is 0.5M to 2.0M, and the pH is 8.5 to 13.

0. When the chitosan is used as the gel raw material, the reaction time of the gelation reaction is 0.5h to 2h; 15. The preparation method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The negative ions in the electrolyte solution include any of SO4 2- , C4H4O6 2- , and CH3COO - . And / or, the shaping and drying process includes placing the amorphous gel in a mold and drying the amorphous gel in the mold; 16. The method of claim 12, wherein, And / or, the drying temperature is 45℃ to 65℃, and the drying time is 5h to 12h. ​ ​

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