MXPA00009909A - New tobacco substitute and method thereof. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is related with a new tobacco substitute having the characteristics of similarity regarding its aspect and metrical texture, but with a lesser noxious effect to the health and a lower risk of provoking diseases; obtaining with its consumption, a "tipsy" effect, but without the harmful effect of tobacco and with a simple composition of easy manufacture. This composition is of the kind comprising a filler, an alkaloid similar to nicotine and additives to keep combustion going and flavoring, and it is characterized because the filler and the alkaloid are provided by the coffee tree leaf, from the Arabic or robust specie.

Description

NEW SUBSTITUTE FOR TOBACCO AND METHOD TO OBTAIN SUCH SUBSTITUTE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new component that can be used as a substitute for tobacco in the manufacture of cigarettes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Smoking, for many people, is a habit or practice highly pleasing, despite the amount of evidence that shows that smoking is the origin of a multitude of cardio-pulmonary diseases.

Several efforts have been made to make the cigarettes or tobacco products less harmful potential effects, this through the treatment of tobacco and tobacco products in order to remove as much as possible the harmful components and constituents, without destroying the taste of the product to be smoked.

Technically, the characteristics of the substitute should be as close as possible to natural tobacco in terms of elasticity, ease of cutting and good resistance to breakage. These qualities allow to be processed in the industrial field.

Examples of the efforts made to obtain a tobacco substitute product are reflected in US Patents 3,934,594, 4,019,520, 4,195,645 and 5,018,541.

In US Patent 3,934,594, Beringer, et. to the. propose a mixture consisting of a filler (straw from one or more grains or peel of nuts, cocoa beans or coffee beans), magnesium format, tartaric acid, potassium nitrate, paraffin, diammonium phosphate, vallinylidene, carboxymethylcellulose, glycerin , diethylene glycol, fruit concentrate, malaza and malt extract. Said composition, as can be seen, is quite complex, with an excess of chemical compounds, and does not have the desired quality of elasticity and some resistance to cutting.

US Patent 4,019,520, the inventors of which are Strubel and Johnson, discloses a composition consisting of boric oxide, boric oxyacids and their alkali metal salts. This composition, in terms of its consistency, is quite far from the normal consistency of tobacco.

Patent 4,165,752 discloses a machine and a process for manufacturing a smokable coffee product, obtained from the whole grain of the cherry coffee. In this case, with the appropriate machinery and process, a fractionated product can be obtained which, from the aspect point of view, is similar to tobacco, however, to the touch, this stops having the elasticity of the tobacco.

In the patent 4,195,645, a tobacco substitute material is disclosed that consists of a polysaccharide such as cellulose or a derivative thereof, as an organic fuel ingredient. A tobacco alkaloid material, such as nicotine or a derivative thereof, is added to this polysaccharide in the form of a plurality of fuel micro capsules containing said tobacco alkaloid material. Although this product may not have the problem of tar, it has the problem of requiring a very elaborate process, only for the production of micro capsules Finally, US Pat. No. 5,018,541 concerns a tobacco substitute that has a tobacco flavor but contains only an extremely small amount of nicotine, being produced from aloe leaves, with a special treatment, to subsequently apply a thin layer of liquid adhesive, such as casein, carrageenan, fumorin, starch and finally a powder, which is mainly tobacco, is sprinkled on the surface made adhesive, to subsequently dry the dried leaves thus treated, ob-having a substitute product of tobacco, flavored tobacco, to which tobacco smokers can get used quickly. This last solution to make a substitute for tobacco possible, has the drawback of being too complicated and requiring anyway, although in a smaller amount, tobacco.

All of these substitutes, in one way or another, try to provide the product with an element that produces a "sizzling" effect in the consumer.

From all this we can conclude that a new substitute product of tobacco, with a simplicity in its composition and with a texturometric similarity to tobacco, would have important advantages over what exists.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION The main objective of the present invention is to make possible a new substitute of tobacco with a resemblance of the closest to it, in terms of its appearance and texturo-metric characteristics, but with less harmful effect on health and a much lower risk of disease production.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide this product, but also with the quality of achieving, with its consumption, a "dribbling" effect, but without the harmful effect of tobacco.

Still another objective of the present invention is to achieve all of the above, but with a simple composition of easy manufacture.

And all those qualities and objectives that will become apparent when making a description of the present invention, supported by the illustrated modalities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Broadly speaking, the present invention proposes a substitute composition of tobacco, with the additives that it has to keep burning during smoking, and with some appropriate flavoring, but basically consisting of coffee leaves (Cofea arabica or C. robusta).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As we mentioned in the brief description of the invention, the present tobacco substitute product comprises the additives that said tobacco normally contains, but basically consists of coffee leaves. { Cofea arabica or C. robusta) This simple substitution provides us in a single element, the leaves of the coffee tree, the filling and an alkaloid that could produce a similar effect, although less harmful, than tobacco.

The processing of the green leaf of the tobacco is very similar to that of the tobacco, especially looking for a benefit of the same to provide elasticity and a dehydrated with a controlled humidity that allows a certain transformation (curing of the leaf), making it more flexible that when it was freshly cut and also kept for an important time.

The additive that facilitates the preservation of the product for consumption is alcohol, preferably ethanol. The flavor is selected from the group consisting of: cocoa, vanilla, some artificial substitute of either of these, cinnamon, among other suitable flavorings, or a mixture of these.

It is well known that during its development, the coffee leaf is modifying its chemical composition, and its texturometric characteristics and it is necessary to determine the optimum moment of harvesting it to, on the one hand, optimize the content of the alkaloid caffeine and for the another, to achieve a leaf, after its benefit, with an interesting elasticity. However, although not optimally. Any coffee leaf, at any stage, has qualities that allow it to be an acceptable substitute for the tobacco leaf.

These changes in their different stages have to do with the lignification of the ribs of the leaf. As is known, the tobacco leaf has branched ribs, and these ribs, as the leaf matures, are replacing phloem with xylem, increasing the lignin content and becoming more leathery, however, a very young leaf will have little caffeine content, and could have little effect of "tipsy" on the consumer. As an alternative, in case of a very leathery leaf, it could be deveined, at least cutting its main rib.

The invention has been described sufficiently so that a person with average skill in the art can reproduce and obtain the results mentioned in the present invention. However, any person skilled in the art who is competent in the present invention may be able to make modifications not described in the present application, however, if for the application of these modifications in a smokable, substitute composition of the tobacco, determined or in the manufacturing process thereof, the matter claimed in the following claims is required, said structures must be understood within the scope of the invention.

Claims (3)

R E I V I N D I C A C I O E S Having sufficiently described the invention, it is considered as a novelty and therefore it is claimed as property what is expressed and contained in the following clauses claiming.

1. New tobacco substitute, of the type comprising a filling, a nicotine-like alkaloid and additives for maintaining combustion and flavoring, characterized in that the filling and the alkaloid are provided by the coffee leaf, whether it is Arabic or sturdy.

2. New tobacco substitute, of the type comprising a filling, a nicotine-like alkaloid and combustion and flavoring maintenance additives, as claimed in the preceding claim, characterized in that the coffee leaf with which elaborated the substitute was collected in a stadium that optimized the alkaloid content without having too much lignification of it.

3. New tobacco substitute, of the type comprising a filling, a nicotine-like alkaloid and combustion and flavoring maintenance additives, as claimed in claim 1, further characterized by the coffee leaf with which it was made the substitute was collected in a stadium that optimized the alkaloid content, eliminating the main rib with the peduncle of the leaf. New tobacco substitute, of the type comprising a filler, a nicotine-like alkaloid and combustion and flavoring maintenance additives, as claimed in any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the combustion maintainer is a alcohol. New tobacco substitute, of the type comprising a filler, a nicotine-like alkaloid and combustion and flavoring maintenance additives, as claimed in any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the flavor is chosen from the set consisting of: cocoa, vanilla, some artificial substitute of either of these, cinnamon, or a mixture thereof. SUMMARY The present invention is related to a new tobacco substitute that has the characteristics of having a similarity to that closest to it, in terms of its appearance and tex-turometric characteristics, but with less harmful effect on health and a much lower risk of disease production; achieving, with its consumption, a "dribbling" effect, but without the harmful effect of tobacco and with a simple composition of easy manufacture. This composition is of the type comprising a filler, an alkaloid similar to nicotine and additives for maintaining combustion and flavoring, and is characterized in that the filler and the alkaloid are provided by the leaf of the coffee, of the Arabica species or robust