Tobacco – Tobacco treatment – With fluid or fluent material
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-12
2002-12-31
Griffin, Steven P. (Department: 1731)
Tobacco
Tobacco treatment
With fluid or fluent material
C131S310000, C131S276000, C131S300000, C131S308000, C131S297000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06499489
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to smoking articles such as cigarettes, and in particular to processes for providing a flavorful and aromatic composition for tobaccos.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Popular smoking articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially rod shaped structure and include a charge of smokable material such as strands or shreds of tobacco (e.g., cut filler) surrounded by a paper wrapper thereby providing a so-called “tobacco rod.” Numerous popular cigarettes have cylindrical filter elements aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, filter elements are constructed from fibrous materials such as cellulose acetate, have a circumscribing plug wrap, and are attached to the tobacco rod using tipping material.
Many types of smoking products and improved smoking articles have been proposed through the years as improvements upon, or as alternatives to, the popular smoking articles. Recently, U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,151 to Shelar; U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,082 to Baneijee et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,318 to Clearman et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,365 to Sensabaugh, Jr. et al.; and European Patent Publication Nos. 212,234 and 277,519 propose cigarettes and pipes which comprise a fuel element, an aerosol generating means physically separate from the fuel element, and a separate mouth-end piece. Such types of smoking articles provide natural tobacco flavors to the smoker thereof by heating, rather than burning, tobacco in various forms.
Generally, natural tobacco flavors and aromas are important for the taste, aroma, and acceptance of smoking products, including substitute smoking materials. Thus, the search for natural tobacco flavor additives or flavor substances is a continuing task.
To improve the flavor and aroma in smoking articles, various natural extracts prepared, e.g., from tobacco, have been included in smoking articles. For example, U.S. Patent No. 3,424,171 describes a process for the production of a non-tobacco smokable product having a tobacco taste. Tobacco is subjected to a moderate (i.e. below scorching) heat treatment, i.e., at from about 175° C. to 200° C. (350° to 400° F.), to drive off aromatic components. These components are trapped on adsorbent charcoal, and removed from the charcoal by solvent extraction.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,677 describes a process for the treatment of tobacco which comprises the steps of: (1) contacting tobacco which contains relatively high quantities of desirable flavorants with a stream of non-reactive gas, under conditions whereby the tobacco is heated in a temperature range from about 140° to 180° C.; (2) condensing the volatile constituents of the resulting gaseous stream; and (3) collecting said condensate. The condensate may be used subsequently to flavor a smoking material in order to enhance the organoleptic qualities of its smoke.
British Patent No. 1,383,029 describes a method of obtaining tobacco aroma substances which comprises an extraction treatment wherein the components of the tobacco that are soluble in a suitable solvent are extracted and the residue obtained after removing the solvent is subjected to heat treatment at a temperature from 30° to 260° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,802 to White et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,654 to Bemasek et al. disclose extraction processes which heat tobacco and then pass an inert atmosphere through the heating chamber to collect volatiles from the tobacco. The volatiles are then fractionated in downstream operations, which include liquid sorbents, cold temperature traps, and filters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,992 to Sensabaugh proposes a process that involves heating tobacco (e.g., in a flowing gas stream) during a first staged heating to a first “toasting” temperature to drive off volatile materials, increasing the toasting temperature during a second staged heating, and separately collecting, as flavor substances, at least portions of the volatile materials driven off at the first and second toasting temperatures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,757 to White et al. proposes a process for altering the chemical nature of a tobacco extract, in which tobacco material is extracted with a chemical solvent, the extract is contacted with an ammonia compound, and the ammonia-treated extract is subjected to heat treatment in a pressure-controlled environment (e.g., in a Parr bomb).
Other processes for producing and using tobacco extracts, aroma oils and concentrates are proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,321 to Davis; U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,919 to Green; U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,171 to Rooker; U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,126 to Gellatly and U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,682 to Mueller and European Patent Publication No. 338,831 to Clapp et al.
It has also been proposed to treat tobacco to improve the flavorful and aromatic characteristics in situ. The treated tobacco with improved flavor and aroma is used in making smoking articles such as cigarettes. For example, in the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,646, cured tobacco, in particular bright tobacco is subjected to heat treatment in the continuing presence of ammonia for a period of ½ to 24 hours at a temperature of 80° C. to 150° C. in a closed system. The resultant tobacco is described as having Burley-like flavor characters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,994 proposes a process of forming favorable flavor compounds in a moisturized tobacco. Tobacco lamina applied with ammonium hydroxide is treated in pressurized steam and then discharged into a zone of lower pressure to expand the tobacco. Improvements in flavor and reduced irritation are observed in the resultant tobacco.
In addition, others have proposed to react non-tobacco materials to produce flavorful and aromatic compounds for use in smoking articles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,122 to Shu issued on May 9, 1995 discloses making a flavorful and aromatic composition from &bgr;-hydroxy amino acids by contacting the amino acids with a liquid having an aqueous character followed by heat treatment in an enclosed environment to provide an aqueous solution of volatile pyrazine flavorants. The ratio of liquid to amino acid is 4:1 to 40:1. The resulting aqueous extract containing flavorful pyrazines is then applied to smoking materials to provide flavor and aroma in the smoking articles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,015 discloses heating an amino acid and a sugar in the presence of a polyhydric alcohol and using the reaction product as a flavoring material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,026 describes reacting the amino acid valine with a sugar, other hydroxycarbonyl compound, or dicarbonyl compound under heat treatment in a solvent such as glycerol or propylene glycol and at a temperature of about 100° C. to about 200° C. for about 0.5 to 5 hours. Optionally, a catalyst such as a flavanoid or hydroxyacid is included in the reaction. The reaction products can be used as flavorants in tobacco compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,577 discloses the production of flavorants for smoking compositions by reacting reducing sugars and selected amino acids in the presence of ammonium hydroxide and optionally in the presence of an aldehyde in an essentially solvent-free system at a temperature range of 90° C. to 115° C. The selected amino acids are those that have at least two nitrogens such as glutamine, asparagine, lysine, and arginine.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 32,095 discloses reacting a reducing sugar with a source of ammonia in the presence of a trace amount of certain amino acids at a temperature in the range of about 90° C. to about 115° C. for about 5 to 15 minutes. The trace amino acids include aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, and glutamine. The weight ratio of sugar to amino acid is in the range of 200-300:1, and the weight ratio of sugar to ammonia source is about 5-15:1.
While these processes have produced flavor substances acceptable for use in many smoking articles, they have not been suitable for some smoking articles, or have required costly or time consuming steps such as forming a tobacco extract prior to the obtaining of the desired compounds, or have subjected tobacco mat
Griffin Steven P.
Lopez Carlos
R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
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