NO131153B - - Google Patents

Description

Smoked product based on dry process reconstituted

tobacco and/or tobacco substitutes.

A number of compositions have been described within the state of the art in the area as suitable substitutes for tobacco in smoking products such as e.g. cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, etc. A material that has just been widely accepted commercially is tobacco reconditioned by a "dry process", a film of tobacco stubble held together by a smaller amount, e.g. 5%, of a suitable binder. Other substitutes described are mainly of a synthetic nature, although smaller amounts of tobacco, e.g. 30 - 40%,

can be incorporated to give a more tobacco-like aroma and appearance.

In general, these synthetic substitutes consist of a combustible substrate in which combustion modifiers are incorporated, usually inorganic compounds that cause the combustible substrate to burn at a rate equivalent to that of a two-bladed blade. Known combustible substrates include, for example, alpha cellulose or oxidized cellulose (US patent no. 3,461,879), thermally degraded cellulose (Canadian patent no. 822,969), pectins and alginates (US patent no. 3,529-602), and naturally occurring plant gums and resins, such as guar gum, locust bean gum, tragacanth gum, gum arabic and kruscarrageen.

Norwegian patent no. 122,827 discloses special tobacco substitutes containing combustible substrates selected from starch, derivatives of starch or cellulose, containing the repeating anhydroglucose unit

wherein R is hydrogen, lower alkyl, hydroxy lower alkyl or carboxy lower alkyl groups and mixtures thereof, and/or salts thereof. Preferably, R is selected from the group comprising Ch^COOM, CH2CH20H °g CH3' ^where M is a non-toxic cation or hydrogen, preferably an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal, aluminium, iron or hydrogen. Compounds of the nature indicated above have an average degree of substitution for hydrogen of 0.2 - 3.0 R groups per unit, and preferably 0.4 - 152 groups per unit. Mixtures of these compounds are also described as suitable.

Combustible substrates which are described as being particularly desirable are carboxymethylcellulose, carboxyethylcellulose, hydroxyethylcellulose, carboxymethylhydroxyethylcellulose, methylcellulose, carboxymethylated starch, analogous compounds such as e.g. ethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, carboxyethyl starch and salts thereof.

Smoking products can also be produced using mixtures of any of the above stated tobacco substitutes.

Numerous combustion modifying substances are described as being suitable for modifying the combustion rate of the combustible substrates according to the state of the art in the field. In general, the preferred combustion modifiers are inorganic compounds of a non-toxic nature, i.e. pharmacologically inactive in terms of significantly aggravating effect in a causality ratio upon oral ingestion of the substance itself or its combustion products. Suitable distribution modifiers can also be selected from organic compounds and the elements.

The ratio between the combustible substrate and the combustion modifying component (this term can also be replaced by the term filler) is from 15:85 to 85:15, and preferably 25:75 to 75:25.

Previously known combustion modifying components are also usable in the present smoking products, and they also serve to varying degrees as fillers which reduce the total amount of combustible component present, and thus also the total amount of combustion products. These combustion modifying ingredients are non-toxic, particulate materials preferably of medium, minimal size in the range of 0.2 µm to 1.0 mm. It is also preferred that the powdery material has a maximum size of 0.25 mm, and more preferably approx. 0.1 mm.

Inorganic compounds that can be used as combustion-modifying components and/or fillers can be comprised of a cation selected from column (A) and an anion selected from column (B).

Preferably, cations used are selected from the group comprising zinc, titanium, magnesium, calcium, aluminum and iron. These cations are preferably used in the form of carbonates, oxides, hydroxides, sulphates, phosphates, aluminates, silicates and aluminum silicates. The oxides, carbonates and hydroxides are particularly desirable as these anions are split into carbon, hydrogen and oxygen during combustion. Inorganic compounds in their naturally occurring state, such as limestone (especially dolomite), diatomaceous earth, perlite,

magnesite, vermiculite, etc. are also suitable.

As previously indicated, the elements can also be used as filler materials, and particularly preferred elements include carbon, zinc, magnesium, titanium, aluminum and iron.

Although the filler materials are generally of a granular nature, they may also be in fibrous form. Materials that are easily usable in fiber form are fibreglass, mica, asbestos, metal, metal oxide and metal carbide wires (whiskers). For this purpose, thin strips of metal, such as aluminum shavings, are considered fibers. Preferably, fiber materials have an average length in the range of 1.0-5 mm, and an average minimum dimension of the previously indicated order of magnitude.

It is also possible, and often desirable, to use combinations of powdered fillers in order to achieve the final desired smoldering speed. Fillers which have been found to be particularly suitable for controlling the smoldering rate include titanium dioxide, carbon, magnesium oxide, zeolite, silica gel, magnesium silicate and diatomaceous earth.

The above-mentioned smoking products, a term used for the sake of brevity to generically encompass dry-process reconstituted tobacco and tobacco substitutes, although exhibiting varying degrees of applicability, have also been found to have certain disadvantages. Of greatest importance is the fact that these materials, when used to replace tobacco entirely, or in a significant percentage of the smoking product, tend to produce smoke having a taste or odor that may be irritating to the smoker. The applicability of these smoking products would be greatly improved if this disadvantage could be reduced.

Accordingly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide smoking products which, when burned, produce a smoke which is less irritating to the smoker.

It has surprisingly been found that the taste and smell properties of the above-mentioned smoked products can be significantly improved by incorporating into them 0.1 - 5% by weight, preferably 1 - 2.5% by weight, of collagen.

The collagen is usually incorporated into the smoked product by carefully mixing it with the other components of the smoked product, either before or after adding water, and then casting a film of it in an aqueous state. Preferably, the material at the time it is cast comprises 65 - 95% water. The cast film preferably has a thickness in the dry state in the range 0.13 - 0.38 mm.

The following example illustrates the invention.

Example

The following ingredients are carefully mixed with water to form a dough:

This mush was molded into a film and dried, after which the film was ground and converted into cigarettes with a length of 85 mm, a diameter of 8 mm and a weight of 1.2 g. The smoke from these cigarettes was mild and significantly less irritating than smoke from cigarettes made from an otherwise identical tobacco substitute, from which the collagen was omitted.

The cigarettes thus produced were also smoked to a stub length of 30 mm in an apparatus which took puffs of 35 ml during 2 second intervals in a cycle of 60 seconds. Tar was collected by drawing the smoke through a "Cambridge" filter pad which removed at least 98% of solid powdery material, and where the filter pads were weighed before and after smoking. Cigarettes made from the above-mentioned tobacco substitute emitted only 4>7 mg of tar per cigarette compared to 28 mg of tar emitted from a cigarette of the same weight consisting only of tobacco.

A determination was also made of the gas phase constituents of the cigarettes. These results, compared to a cigarette consisting only of tobacco and of the same weight, were as follows:

It will be obvious from the example shown that the composition defined therein can, if desired, contain components in addition to the combustible substrate, tobacco and/or combustion modifying components. Such additive materials include, for example, ash-modifying ingredients such as fiberglass and organic fibres, flavor or odor-modifying ingredients such as tobacco extracts, synthetic flavours, nicotine or sugars, coloring ingredients such as carbon, food colors and inorganic pigments, softeners and humectants such as butylene glycol, glycerol and propylene -glycol and humectants.

Smoking products can be made entirely from dry-process reconstituted tobacco, entirely from the above-described tobacco substitutes, or from any desired combination of tobacco substitutes with reconstituted tobacco.

Claims (1)

Smoking product based on dry-process reconstituted tobacco and/or tobacco substitute which comprises a combustible substrate selected from starch, derivatives of starch or cellulose, which contains a repeating anhydroglucose unit where R is hydrogen, lower hydroxyalkyl, lower carboxyalkyl or mixtures thereof, the average degree of substitution for hydrogen at the substituents R being 0.2 - 3.0 per unit, and/or salts thereof, in which a combustion-modifying component is evenly dispersed and where the combustible substrate and the combustion-modifying component are present in a ratio of 1.5:85 to 85:15, characterized in that 0.1 - 5% by weight of the smoking product composition consists of collagen.