JPS61162160A - Drying of tobacco leaves - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a method for drying leaf tobacco for the purpose of improving the aroma and taste of tobacco. It is particularly effective when applied to leaf tobacco grown in areas where volcanic ejecta such as volcanic ash, volcanic gas, or acid rain falls, and areas affected by pollution such as factory exhaust, or to inferior leaves due to poor crop production. .

[Prior Art] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51-19198 has been published regarding a method for drying fresh tobacco leaves in a closed chamber. This is a method that requires the installation of a carbon dioxide gas absorber and oxygen gas supply equipment in the drying room when tobacco leaves are dried in bulk in a drying room. Here, as the carbon dioxide absorber, activated carbon, silica gel, etc. are placed in the gas circulation path, and as the oxygen gas supply device, for example, a device that continuously supplies oxygen indoors from an oxygen cylinder placed outdoors is used. This is what I did. Since the room is sealed, the carbon dioxide and moisture generated from the leaf tobacco during drying are absorbed by these absorbers, leaving only a trace amount in the atmosphere, resulting in a state filled with oxygen gas. Therefore, the drying time can be significantly shortened compared to natural drying, and the forced circulation keeps the gas composition in the room constant, so the quality of the dried leaves is always constant.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present inventors have developed leaf tobacco grown in areas where volcanic ejecta such as volcanic ash, volcanic gas, or acid rain falls, and areas where there is the influence of pollution such as factory exhaust. We researched ways to obtain dried leaves with excellent tobacco flavor.

As a result of trying various drying methods, the method of circulating atmospheric gas in a closed room has better thermal efficiency than drying using natural convection, but the aroma and flavor are inferior.

However, it has been found that by using a one-way blowing system in which the atmospheric gas is released after passing through the room only once, even when drying with forced convection, the aroma and flavor are similar to those obtained with natural convection.

From these points, it is thought that components that have an adverse effect on the flavor of tobacco smoke evaporate from cotyledon tobacco and accumulate in the circulating gas, so we investigated ways to remove these components.

Although ordinary activated carbon or silica gel was used as an adsorption/removal agent as described in the above-mentioned publication, no effect on improving the aroma and taste was observed.

As a result of analyzing the circulating gas, it was revealed that a considerable amount of sulfur oxide gas had accumulated.As a result of research on how to adsorb and remove these gases, we decided to use special activated carbon that oxidizes and fixes sulfur oxide gas. It was discovered that the aroma and taste were significantly improved by this, and the present invention was achieved.

[Means for solving the problem] Drying of tobacco leaves characterized by drying fresh tobacco leaves in gas circulating through an activated carbon layer activated in a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere and/or an activated carbon layer impregnated with alkali. It's a method.

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

Figure 1 shows an example of a gas circulation type tobacco bulk dryer. (1) is a drying room in which fresh tobacco leaves (2) are regularly hung at regular intervals using a plurality of hanging devices, and heated air is blown from below to dry them. If necessary, the heated air that has passed between the multiple tiers of leaf tobacco is released by an intake/exhaust damper (7), and after taking in outside air, it passes through the blower (3) and enters the temperature-controlled room (5). enter. The temperature control room is heated by a burner (4) to maintain a constant temperature of the circulating air flowing through the circulation duct (8). The heated air leaving the temperature-controlled room (5) passes through the activated carbon layer (6), during which water and other components evaporated from the leaf tobacco are adsorbed and removed, after which it is circulated and enters the drying room (1) again to dry the leaves. Used for drying tobacco.

Figure 1 shows a vertical dryer as an example, but a 1-=0 drying method is also possible, with a longer air outlet to the drying chamber and fewer stages for hanging leaf tobacco. As the adsorbent for the heated air used in the invention, it is necessary to use activated carbon activated in a carbon dioxide atmosphere and/or activated carbon impregnated with alkali.Activated carbon is usually used for water evaporation or combustion containing water vapor and carbon dioxide gas. These activated carbons are activated in gas, but although they are insufficient in removing the off-odor caused by volcanic ash and the off-flavor of inferior leaves, the aroma and flavor components are removed and reduced.The objective of the present invention is to improve the aroma and flavor. Although we have no choice but to rely on sensory tests, the nIWI of the content analysis of 5ax1, F, etc. adsorbed on activated carbon is recorded in the effect column as a reference value along with the results.

The shape of the activated carbon used is not particularly limited. Crushed coal and granulated coal are also effective, but due to handling issues such as pressure loss and replacement,
A sheet-like adsorption layer impregnated with granulated carbon or activated carbon is preferred.

For granulation, 30 to 50% pitch is added to the carbon material powder, and the mixture is molded. After heat-treating the molded product at 200° to 300°C, the filling specific gravity is 0.67 to 0.5° at 600° to 70 G'C.
Carbonate until it reaches 70%. Next, the combustion gas is passed through a desiccant and heated at 800° to 90° in a carbon dioxide atmosphere from which water vapor has been removed.
Activate at 08C to an activation yield of 65-75%. The packed specific gravity of the obtained activated carbon is around 0.5, and the 802 adsorption amount is 20~
It reaches 30%. It is believed that Boz is oxidized on the surface and adsorbed in the form of 803 or sulfuric acid.

Further, the base of the alkali-impregnated carbon may be ordinary activated carbon tare and is not limited to one made by a specific process or one having specific physical properties. The alkali is sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, etc., or a mixture thereof, and the amount of impregnation is not particularly limited, but usually 10
% is preferable. For example, when a gas containing 802 is passed through, it is oxidized to 803 on the activated carbon surface, reacts stoichiometrically with the alkali retained on the surface, and is retained as a sulfate. Further, carbon dioxide activated carbon and alkali-impregnated carbon may be used together.

[Effect 3: When drying tobacco leaves in a bulk dryer, if activated carbon is not used, components evaporated from the tobacco leaves may accumulate in the circulating heated air, which may impair the aroma and taste of the tobacco. Therefore, by circulating heated air through a special activated carbon layer, the L7-1 filter adsorbs and removes the components that evaporate during drying and make the taste bad.

In addition, activated carbon activated in a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere or alkali-impregnated activated carbon has general adsorption properties as activated carbon.
It has excellent adsorption properties for acid catalysts and acidic substances.

Therefore, by placing such an adsorbent in the circulation path of the heated air, only specific components can be removed, making it possible to use a heated air ring.

[Effects] In order to examine the effects of drying using this method, we conducted a sensory test on the aroma and taste of tobacco using the obtained dried leaves as a raw material, and investigated the composition of the gas adsorbed on activated carbon by desorbing it. We investigated the relationship between For comparison, we also examined cases in which activated carbon for deodorization and other general gas treatment was used, and cases in which drying was carried out by the usual method of circulating heated air inside the dryer without using activated carbon.

As an example, when we dry leaf tobacco with poor crop quality and ripeness, we found that when activated carbon is not used for flavoring, the tobacco has a strong grainy growth pattern, and the flavor is dull.
It had a rough, dark, astringent taste, with a spicy and raw taste. When ordinary activated carbon for gas adsorption was used, the uniform green texture became thinner, but the pungent taste and pungent odor became stronger, and the flavor was felt to be faint. When activated carbon activated in a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere is used, there will be less of a grayish, uniform smell, less pungent taste and irritating odor, and the smoke will be softer and easier to smoke. However, if the treatment is excessive, there is a tendency for the aroma to become slightly diluted, so it is necessary to pay attention to the thickness of the activated carbon layer and the degree of dryness to avoid excessive treatment. Furthermore, in the case of activated carbon impregnated with alkali, it is almost the same as carbon dioxide gas activated carbon, but carbon gas activated carbon and alkali impregnated carbon are recognized to have a remarkable effect in removing off-flavors caused by ash fall resistance.

In addition, it has been noted that it has a remarkable effect on removing uniformly gray leaves, and is suitable for treating inferior leaves, so-called gray leaves.Therefore, when dried using the method of the present invention, the quality of dried leaves improves. considered to be a thing.

803, ct adsorbed on activated carbon after drying leaf tobacco.

When the three components of F were analyzed, 8o3 was detected the most, followed by Ct and trace amounts of F. Carbon dioxide-activated carbon and alkali-impregnated carbon adsorbed these acidic components in an amount that was approximately twice that of ordinary activated carbon for gas adsorption, and an even greater amount of F was detected. Normal activated carbon has a significantly small adsorption amount of 80s and Ct, and no F was detected. Therefore, a decrease in these acidic components is considered to be a contributing factor to the decrease in irritating odor. Activated carbon exhibits strong adsorption properties for many other substances, so it is thought that many other substances are adsorbed in addition to acidic components, but the effects of these were investigated through a sensory test of aroma and taste.

By drying leaf tobacco in heated air circulating through a specific activated carbon layer in this manner, the aroma and taste of the tobacco can be improved.

[Example] The present invention will be specifically explained in detail below, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The structure and function of each part are as described in the detailed description of the invention.

Load 24kg of fresh tobacco leaves into this dryer, and the air volume is 4■
- I drove. Leaf tobacco is grown in volcanic ash soil, where there is occasional volcanic ash fall. The drying time was 110 hours, and the temperature and humidity of the circulating heated air was 300-400G, 100% → 8o%, until yellowing was completed.
The color fixation was 40°-55°0.80%-40%, and the bone drying was 55°-70°0.40%-20%.

Type of adsorbent used, amount of fresh leaves charged, dry leaf walking rate,
Table 1 shows the results of shredding the obtained dried leaves, rolling them up and tasting them, and Table 3 shows the results of taking out the adsorbent after completing the drying test, extracting it, and analyzing the acidic components. Shown below.

Table 1 Table 2 Trial evaluation by expert panel: Using JK4 as a control, out of 10 people based on a two-point comparison method.
Indicates the number of people who answered "Good".

Table 3 The adsorbed acidic components were analyzed using the following method.

(1) Collect a sample of 80a ioo y on an anhydrous basis, and add approximately 80a of distilled water.
Add 0d and boil for about 5 minutes, then push out and collect the p liquid.

This operation is repeated until the offshore liquid reaches approximately 1.7 tons.

A barium chloride test solution was added to the ρ solution, and SOx was determined as sodium sulfate.

(2) Olz, F Sample 100 under the same conditions as above? Collect the sample, add distilled water, repeat boiling and filtration, and make an extract of 500 me
lz is H according to JIS, KO102 factory wastewater test method.
y(No3)2 titration method, F is the same < J I8- K
It was analyzed using Dotite Alfusson according to the Run One-Alizarin Combrequiran method of the 0102 factory wastewater test method. In the blank test, new coal was treated in the same way and the analytical values were corrected.

As is clear from the above test 1 injection results, when carbon dioxide activated carbon and alkali-impregnated carbon are used, the aroma and taste are significantly lower than when no adsorbent is used, as well as when general gas adsorption carbon is used. A remarkable effect is observed in terms of adsorption of acidic components.

Example 2 In active volcanic areas, volcanic gas is often spewing out all the time even when there is no ash falling, but the flavor of leaf tobacco deteriorates due to acid rain produced when volcanic gas comes into contact with rainfall.

This is because acidic gas components such as 802 and HCt in volcanic gas combine with the moisture in the leaves and deteriorate the aroma and flavor components.As a result of the investigation, it is clear that when encountering acid rain with a pH of 4 or less, the flavor will deteriorate. The influence of

These components are similar to acid rain components generated from urban pollution, and it is assumed that leaves and tobacco in the vicinity of Kamiichi are also affected.

In order to clarify the effect of adsorbent treatment on leaf tobacco exposed to acid rain, a test was conducted according to the method shown in Table 4.

In order to eliminate the effects of ash fall and acid rain, one drop of artificial acid rain was applied to some of the normal leaves in the 5th section of the cliff that were grown inside the rain isolation device.
It was sprayed twice and became the 6th ward.

In addition, part of JF's 6th ward was dried using this treatment method.
It was designated as a ward. Table 5 shows the results of tasting the dried leaves of each of these areas, and it was found that the aroma and taste, which had deteriorated due to acid rain, was greatly improved by this treatment, and it became clear that the treatment effect was remarkable.

Table 4 Acid rain and adsorbent treatment Table 5 Trial evaluation by expert panel: Using A6 as a control, the number of people out of 10 who rated it "good" using the two-point comparison method is shown.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows a system diagram of a leaf tobacco dryer. 1. Drying room 5. Temperature-controlled room 2, leaf tobacco 6. Activated carbon layer 3, blower 7. Intake and exhaust damper 4, burner 8 Circulation duct @1 diagram Tobacco dryer

Claims (1)

[Claims] A tobacco leaf drying method characterized in that fresh tobacco leaves are dried in a gas circulating through an activated carbon layer activated in a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere and/or an activated carbon layer impregnated with an alkali.