Fire-Cured Tobacco Extract Process for Benzo[a]pyrene Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smokeless tobacco products often contain high levels of benzo[a]pyrene and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are not desirable for their sensory characteristics, and there is a need for a process to create a flavorful tobacco composition that reduces these compounds while maintaining the distinctive sensory attributes of fire-cured tobacco.
Innovation Solution
A process involving the extraction of fire-cured tobacco using polar protic solvents to separate desirable sensory components from undesirable chemical compounds, resulting in a tobacco extract with reduced benzo[a]pyrene levels, typically below 10 ppb, which can be recombined with treated tobacco pulp to form a reconstituted tobacco material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If fire-cured tobacco is used in smokeless tobacco products, then distinctive smoky aroma and flavor are achieved, but high levels of benzo[a]pyrene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are present
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies extraction using polar protic solvents to separate and remove benzo[a]pyrene and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from fire-cured tobacco while preserving the desirable smoky aroma and flavor components. This directly resolves the contradiction by extracting the harmful substances while retaining the sensory characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the tobacco material through solvent extraction, specifically reducing benzo[a]pyrene concentration while maintaining the sensory profile. This parameter change approach allows achieving low harmful substance levels without sacrificing the distinctive fire-cured tobacco characteristics.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If extraction process is used to reduce benzo[a]pyrene, then harmful compound levels are reduced, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes changes in solvent polarity and protic character as key parameters to achieve selective extraction. By selecting polar protic solvents with specific properties, the process efficiently removes benzo[a]pyrene while maintaining simplicity, resolving the contradiction between harm reduction and process complexity.
3Device complexity
If traditional tobacco processing is used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but undesirable chemical compounds remain at high levels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an extraction step that removes harmful polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from traditionally processed tobacco. This modification adds a targeted removal function while maintaining the overall simplicity of traditional processing methods, resolving the contradiction between processing simplicity and harmful substance reduction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process effectively reduces benzo[a]pyrene content by up to 99% while retaining the smoky aroma and flavor of fire-cured tobacco, making it suitable for use in various tobacco products without introducing significant amounts of undesirable chemical compounds.
Implementation Method 1
A process involving the extraction of fire-cured tobacco using polar protic solvents to separate desirable sensory components from undesirable chemical compounds
Implementation Method 2
The process effectively reduces benzo[a]pyrene content by up to 99% while retaining the smoky aroma and flavor of fire-cured tobacco
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides a tobacco product including a flavorful tobacco composition in the form of an extract of a fire-cured tobacco material. Exemplary tobacco products include smoking articles, smokeless tobacco compositions, and aerosol-generating devices that do not burn tobacco. The invention also provides a process for preparing a smokeless tobacco composition, the method including: mixing a fire-cured tobacco material having a first benzo[a]pyrene concentration with water to produce an aqueous slurry; maintaining the slurry for a time and at a temperature sufficient to form a fire-cured tobacco extract, the aqueous fire-cured tobacco extract exhibiting a second benzo[a]pyrene concentration lower than the first benzo[a]pyrene concentration; separating the aqueous fire-cured tobacco extract from a residual pulp material, and mixing the aqueous fire-cured tobacco extract with a tobacco or non-tobacco plant material to form a smokeless tobacco composition.