CA2045429C - Nicotine and tar removal process - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for extracting the nicotine and tar present in chopped or untreated leaves of dried tobacco. This method comprises a step of dipping the tobacco in an aqueous solution containing 0.5 g / liter and less than 2 g / liter of salicylic acid or one of its derivatives. The soaked tobacco is then drained to remove the solution in which the nicotine and the tar have been dissolved. At least one rinse is then carried out to remove all traces of solvent. The invention also relates to tobacco treated according to this process and to the use of an aqueous solution of salicylic acid or its derivatives for this purpose.

Description

__ 2045429 PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING NICOTINE
AND TOBACCO TAR
The present invention relates to a method for extract nicotine and tar from tobacco, as well as tobacco thus treated.
It is well known that harmful agents linked to cigarette smoke are mainly nicotine and the tar contained in cigarette tobacco. These two compounds are found in quantities of the order of a few milligrams in each cigarette, and one significant fraction of this amount is then found in the smoker's lungs, especially when the smoke is inhaled. The long-term accumulation of these two compounds in the lungs can cause various problems such emphyzema and possibly lung cancer.
In order to avoid these significant side effects of cigarettes, it is known to decrease the amount of nicotine and tar in each cigarette.
The present invention has for first object a new fast, efficient and economical pre-treatment process tobacco processing (before or after packaging and factory preparation) to extract most of it nicotine and tar.
This process includes a first step of soaking tobacco in an aqueous acid solution salicylic or one of its derivatives such as acid acetylsalicylic acid, the solution possibly being added with ethyl alcohol, a second step including tobacco drainage to remove tobacco aqueous solution and a third step consisting of minus a rinse with water. According to this invention, the aqueous solution may contain 0.1 to 2 g / liter and preferably 0.5 g / liter of acid, and, when used, of 2p454 ~ 29 0.1 to 1 ~ by volume of ethyl alcohol, preferably $ 0.3.
The second object of the invention is tobacco under form of dried or chopped leaves as produced by the process described above.
A third object of the invention is the use an aqueous solution of salicylic acid or its derivatives in order to extract nicotine and tar present in tobacco.
To extract nicotine and tar from tobacco leaf-dried or previously chopped, soaked so this one in an aqueous solution containing between 0.1 to 2 g / 1 of salicylic acid or one of its derivatives such as acetylsalicylic acid. Tobacco as well soaked (around 5 minutes or more depending on the temperature of the solution), is then drained by a pressing the leaves in a sieve or other filter analogous, to eliminate the majority of the solution aqueous now containing nicotine and tar.
Tobacco treated in this way must be rinsed at least once with water to ensure the elimination of residual salicylic or acetylsalicylic acid.
The percentage of salicylic acid or its derivatives and solution temperature may vary depending on the tobacco and the desire to save time -speed of tar and nicotine extraction. Because in a solution at 70 ° heat tobacco is treated faster.
The tobacco is then re-dried, chopped (if not was not initially), and then conditioned according to conventional stages of cigarette making.
The tobacco thus treated contains only 2 ~ and less and even about 0 ~ of the nicotine content present in the same tobacco when untreated. It does not contain also about 8 ~ and more about the tar content present in the same untreated tobacco. If we chew it, we

- 2 -_ .. sNv finds that it does not smell of nicotine or tar and has no taste or smell of acid used for its treatment.
hv ~ unr c 1000 g of dried leaf tobacco were placed in a container and covered with approximately 1600 ml an aqueous solution containing 3 to 5 g of acid acetylsalicylic. This Solution had been previously prepared as follows: 40 g of acid acetylsalic ~ lique were previously dissolved in 250 ml of ethyl alcohol at 70 ~. 50 ml of this solution were then dissolved in 16 liters of water. The solution therefore ultimately comprised 0.5 g / l of acid acetylsalicylic acid, and 0.3 ~ by volume of ethyl alcohol.
The tobacco leaves were then covered with this solution and left to soak for about 10 minutes and higher at room temperature or hot to get faster reaction.
It should be noted that instead of using a alcoholic solution, acetylsalicylic acid could have be used alone. In this case, however, heat the water to dissolve it.
The tobacco was then drained and pressed in a sieve to remove most of the solvent. At least a rinsing bath in water was carried out in order to ensure that no residual solvent or acid acetylsalicylic does not remain present on the surface of tobacco leaves. We also pressed the tobacco leaves to force water out. AT
this point, the pre-processed tobacco was ready to be transferred to the factory for the manufacture of cigarettes according to the very well known conventional process.

- 3 -TV1'11 ~ TT T ~ i The tobacco used to make cigarettes sold under the trademark GAULOISE has been treated according to the process as described in Example 1.
Nicotine dosage and of tar were carried out in the laboratory, between normal GAULOISES brand cigarettes and cigarettes reconstituted from processed tobacco.
The smoking machine used was a machine HEINRICH BORGWALDT type standardized to a single channel, the puff volume being 35 ml and the interval between two 60 second puffs. The length of the butt was about 23 mm.
The nicotine dosages were carried out by gas chromatography and tar dosages were obtained by determining the mass of the anhydrous smoke condenser minus nicotine mass corresponding.
The test was carried out on four cigarettes.
The results obtained are as follows:
NUMBERS WEIGHT OF NICOTINE TARS
TTDTh DRY CORRES
RESPONDENT
Normal Gauls 4 3.8758 g 6.93 mg 82.7 mg Processed Gauls 4 3.5 130 g 0.15 mg 6.35 mg The residual nicotine content in the processed cigarettes is around 2 ~ of the content present in normal cigarettes and the content of tar is around 8 ~ of the content present in

- 4 -204g ~ 2g the normal GAULS.
It should be noted, however, that combustion of a cigarette made with treated tobacco has been found ask for a smoking time and therefore a volume total puffs on the order of 10 times that of the normal GAULOISE cigarette. In addition, in some case, the cigarette tested died out between two flashes.
1? VT ~ \ ITT O 'I
Virginia tobacco was treated according to the process as described in Example 1 and conditioned at 21 ° C
and 60 ~ RH for a period of 48 hours. We made then cigarettes containing 700 g of tobacco in using tubes sold under the trademark EXPORT TO KSF, in a machine of the MATINÉE FILTER type MASTER. The cigarettes were then packaged another 48 hours.
Two inhalation trials were performed on a machine with the trademark "FILTRONA 20" in using as reference cigarette trademark "MONITOR 5" containing 900 g of tobacco untreated. Tar and nicotine levels were measured for each type of cigarette.
Each cigarette containing 900 mg of tobacco normal, contained 99 mg of tar and 99 mg of nicotine.
Each cigarette containing 700 mg of tobacco treated, contained approximately 20.5 mg of tar and none nicotine.
It should be noted that each cigarette made with treated tobacco could not contain more than 700 mg due to drought and the volatile nature of it. Moreover, as for the GAULS of example 2, it turned out

- 5 -hard to keep cigarettes lit for the full length.

- 6 -

Claims (12)

1. A process for extracting nicotine and tar present in tobacco leaves, chopped or not dried, characterized in that it comprises the stages following:
a) soaking the tobacco in an aqueous solution acid chosen from salicylic acid or its derivatives;
b) drainage of the soaked tobacco to eliminate said solution; and c) at least one rinse of said tobacco with the water. 2. Method according to claim 1, character-laughed at in that the salicylic acid derivative is acid acetylsalicylic. 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the aqueous solution used at step (a) contains 0.1 to 2 g / l of salicylic acid or of its derivatives. 4. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the aqueous solution used at step (a) contains approximately 0.5 g / l of salicylic acid or of its derivatives per liter of solution. 5. Method according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the aqueous solution used at step (a) also contains approximately 0.1 to 1% by volume of ethyl alcohol. 6. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the drainage step (c) takes place by pressing the leaves in a sieve. 7. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the soaking step is carried out at due to 1 kg of tobacco soaked in about 16 liters of aqueous solution for about 10 minutes at temperature room, or less than 10 minutes at higher temperature. 8. Tobacco in leaf or chopped form, such as produced by the process defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 7. 9. Use of an aqueous acid solution salicylic or acetylsalicylic acid at about 0.1 to 2 g / 1 for the extraction of nicotine and tar present in chopped or not leaves of dried tobacco. 10. Use of an aqueous acid solution salicylic or acetylsalicylic acid to about 0.5 g / 1 for the extraction of nicotine and tar present in chopped leaves or not of dried tobacco. 11. The use of a solution such as defined in claim 9 or 10, wherein said solution also includes 0.1% to 1% by volume of alcohol ethyl. 12. The use of a solution such as defined in claim 9 or 10, wherein said solution also includes approximately 0.3% by volume of alcohol ethyl.