ES3035193T3 - Tobacco material, tobacco product to which tobacco material is added, and method for producing tobacco material - Google Patents

Abstract

A tobacco material is provided containing tobacco leaf particles with an average particle diameter of 30 μm or less, and a dispersion medium for dispersing the particles. (Automatic translation with Google Translate, no legal value)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Tobacco material, tobacco product to which tobacco material is added, and method for producing tobacco material

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a tobacco product having a tobacco material added thereto.

BACKGROUND

Various types of leaf tobacco are used in smoking articles, such as cigarettes, and by varying the type of leaf tobacco used, smoking articles can be created that exhibit a variety of smoke flavors. One well-known technique for adjusting the smoke flavor of cigarettes involves blending various types of shredded leaf tobacco that have different smoke flavors.

The technique of blending different types of leaf tobacco includes, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, a step in which a plurality of types of leaf tobacco raw materials separately subjected to processing such as vacuum treatment are each cut to produce cut filler leaf components, after which the cut filler leaf components are blended.

The invention described in Patent Document 1 indicates that, in the cutting treatment carried out there, the cutting width varies depending on the type of leaf tobacco and the type of drying system, and should be set within the range of 0.15 to 2.6 mm.

Another known method for imparting smoke flavor to tobacco involves, as described in Patent Document 2, adding to tobacco or the like a pasty material obtained by chemically treating citrus peels.

GB 1 139 801 A describes a method for producing a powdered tobacco extract comprising extracting the soluble components of the tobacco with a solvent, for example water, atomizing the solution, and rapidly evaporating the tiny droplets with a hot gas to form a powder of the solute. The evaporation is carried out in a spray dryer using hot air. The tobacco powder may be stored in containers for later use, for example as a coating on a paper web or as reconstituted tobacco. Preferably, the web is formed from the insoluble residue from the extraction process, this residue being processed into a tobacco web by a conventional papermaking machine. The powder is converted into a concentrated solution and coated onto the web. The coated web may then be spray-painted with a dispersion of finely divided tobacco in water.

GB 562 786 A describes a method for preparing tobacco in sheet, band, or filament form, comprising subjecting the tobacco to a milling or similar reduction operation in water to reduce the tobacco to particles mainly of colloidal size and form a colloidal dispersion of the particles in water, and subjecting the product to sheet, band, or filament forming and drying operations. The tobacco used may be in the form of whole leaves, fragments, stems, etc., or as waste from the manufacture of cigars, cigarettes, etc. It is dried, broken up in a crusher or other device, and ground in a ball mill to a fine powder. This is mixed with water for wet milling in the same or a separate mill to form a colloidal dispersion without destroying the flavor, odor, or color of the tobacco. Instead of first dry milling and then wet milling, all milling may be carried out in the presence of water, and may give a product containing some fibrous particles in the colloidal dispersion. These may be filtered out if desired. The product is extruded, spread, or centrifugally applied to film-forming surfaces, for example, to an endless belt, the inner surface of a rotating cylinder, or iron or steel plates, which may be chrome-plated. The resulting film is dried using heat, a suction pump, etc., in a humidity-controlled atmosphere.

CH 529 519 A describes formed tobacco products, such as flat or cord-shaped products, produced (a) by grinding tobacco with a liquid in a continuously operating mill; and (b) by converting the finely ground product in a conventional manner into the desired shape. The method provides formed tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H7-184624

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S59-45865

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

When imparting smoke flavor to smoking articles, it is preferable that the addition of flavor to the smoking articles be done uniformly so that the smoke flavor reaches the user evenly.

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, the width of the cut leaf tobacco ranges in units from several hundred micrometers to several millimeters. In cigarettes in which such cut leaf tobacco has been blended, the cut leaf tobacco tends to segregate within the cigarette according to the size of the cut strips.

For example, because cigarette leaf tobacco is typically composed of strips of tobacco leaf cut to a length of 3 to 5 mm and a width of 0.5 to 1.2 mm and has a fixed volume, blending a very small amount of one type of leaf tobacco into it tends to result in unevenness. Specifically, since typical commercial cigarettes contain an average of 540 strips of shredded leaf tobacco, blending 1% of one type of shredded leaf tobacco into them requires uniform blending of 5.4 strips of shredded leaf tobacco.

If this cannot be achieved, the flavor of the cigarette smoke may lack uniformity. In the method described in Patent Document 2, the added material differs from tobacco and therefore cannot impart a smoke flavor distinctive to tobacco.

Accordingly, the object of this invention is to provide a technique that uniformly imparts a smoke flavor to tobacco products such as smoking articles.

The inventors have carried out extensive research, as a result of which they have discovered that a tobacco product to which there has been added a tobacco material containing leaf tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 µm or less and a liquid dispersion medium for dispersing the particles, wherein the dispersion medium is a substance which is a liquid at normal temperature, wherein the weight ratio of the leaf tobacco particles, based on the total weight of the tobacco material, is 1 to 40% by weight, and the leaf tobacco particles and the dispersion medium are included in the tobacco material in a combined amount, based on the total amount of the tobacco material, of at least 95% by weight, and wherein the tobacco product contains shredded tobacco, the tobacco material is applied to shredded tobacco, and the weight ratio of leaf tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 µm or less, based on the weight of the shredded tobacco, is 0.01 to 5%, can solve the problems previous ones in cigarettes.

The invention is cited below.

1. [1] A tobacco product to which a tobacco material has been added; the tobacco material includes leaf tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 μm or less, and a dispersion medium for dispersing the particles; wherein the dispersion medium is a substance that is a liquid at normal temperature; wherein the weight ratio of the leaf tobacco particles, based on the total weight of the tobacco material, is 1 to 40% by weight, and the leaf tobacco particles and the dispersion medium are included in the tobacco material in a combined amount, based on the total amount of the tobacco material, of at least 95% by weight; and wherein the tobacco product contains shredded tobacco, the tobacco material is applied to the shredded tobacco, and the weight ratio of leaf tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 μm or less, based on the weight of the shredded tobacco, is 0.01 to 5%.

The invention provides the technique for uniformly imparting a smoke flavor to tobacco products such as smoking articles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the cigarettes produced in Example 2 and Comparative Example 2, and of the cutting positions in the cigarettes.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the menthol concentration (average value) within the cut pieces of the cigarettes produced in Example 2 and Comparative Example 2 and the weight ratio of leaf tobacco leaf particles having an average particle size of 30 µm or less to which menthol was added (in the comparative example, a menthol-flavored tobacco raw material).

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the coefficient of variation of menthol concentrations within the cut pieces of the cigarettes produced in Example 2 and Comparative Example 2 and the weight ratio of leaf tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 µm or less to which menthol was added (in the Comparative Example, a menthol-flavored tobacco raw material).

TO CARRY OUT THE INVENTION

The invention is described in detail below by means of embodiments, examples and the like.

<Tobacco material>

The tobacco material includes leaf tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 µm or less, and a dispersion medium for dispersing the particles; wherein the dispersion medium is a substance that is a liquid at normal temperature; wherein the weight ratio of the leaf tobacco particles, based on the total weight of the tobacco material, is 1 to 40% by weight, and the leaf tobacco particles and the dispersion medium are included in the tobacco material in a combined amount, based on the total amount of the tobacco material, of at least 95% by weight.

<Leaf tobacco particles>

Leaf tobacco particles included in the tobacco material can be obtained, for example, by the following method.

No restrictions are imposed on the types of tobacco that may be used as leaf tobacco, although appropriate use may be made of leaf tobacco raw materials from the major tobacco varieties, such as flue-cured, burley, domestic, and oriental tobaccos, and fermented leaf tobacco obtained using such raw materials. Stem-treated tobacco, expanded tobacco, and sheet tobacco may also be used.

Because each of the aforementioned leaf tobaccos has distinctive smoke flavors, there is a desire to find a method for uniformly adding very small amounts to smoking articles.

These leaf tobaccos undergo a conventional drying treatment, after which they are coarsely ground using a conventional coarse grinding mill.

The drying treatment step and the coarse grinding step using a coarse grinding mill are not particularly limited, and the average particle size of the coarsely ground leaf tobacco is in the range of several hundred micrometers to several millimeters.

A liquid dispersion medium is added to coarsely ground leaf tobacco, and these ingredients are mixed by shaking.

The mixture obtained by such stirring and mixing is then finely ground using a wet fine grinding mill (e.g., MIC-2, available from Nara Machinery Co., Ltd.). The rotational speed of the machine is typically 1,100 to 1,300 rpm, and the grinding process is carried out for a period of approximately 5 to 100 minutes.

Through these operations, leaf tobacco is ground to an average particle size of 30 pm or less.

When obtaining a dispersion of leaf tobacco particles dispersed in a liquid, a wet fine grind mill is generally used, although the tobacco material can also be obtained using a dry fine grind mill. Specifically, coarsely ground leaf tobacco is finely ground to an average particle size of 30 µm or less using a dry fine grind mill such as a jet mill, after which a liquid dispersion medium is added and agitation is carried out to achieve mixing.

In this invention, the average particle size is a value determined by the laser diffraction-scattering method. The apparatus used is a laser diffraction-type particle size analyzer (e.g., the Shimadzu SALD-2100 nanoparticle size analyzer), and the refractive index is set within the range of 1.60 to 0.10 i.

Using such principles and measuring instruments, the average value for particle diameters obtained by the analytical software supplied with the instrument is treated as the average particle size.

Leaf tobacco particles included in tobacco material have an average size of 30 pm or less.

Because finely ground leaf tobacco particles have this average size, the leaf tobacco particles in the tobacco material are easily dispersed evenly, making it possible to evenly impart a smoke flavor to smoking articles.

The lower limit of the average particle size of leaf tobacco particles is generally 5 pm or more, and can be 8 pm or more.

The average particle size of leaf tobacco can be made larger by shortening the grinding time when using a fine grind mill, or by adjusting the dispersion medium to a low viscosity.

The dispersion medium may be one or more selected from water, monohydric alcohols, polyhydric alcohols, sugar alcohols, sugars, and esters of polyhydric alcohols.

By using such a dispersion medium, the average particle size of leaf tobacco can be adjusted to the desired value.

Illustrative examples of the dispersion medium include monohydric aliphatic alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 2,2-dimethylethanol, and cyclohexanol; monohydric alcohols having an aromatic substituent, such as benzyl alcohol; and also monohydric alcohols containing one or more halogen elements, and monohydric alcohols having one or more ether bonds. In this invention, "polyhydric alcohol" generally refers to compounds having two or more hydroxyl groups in a single molecule, and its types are not limited. Examples thereof include glycerol and propylene glycol. Illustrative examples of sugar alcohols include sorbitol, maltitol, xylitol, erythritol, lactitol, sorbitan, xylose, arabinose, mannose, and trehalose. Illustrative examples of sugars include lactose, sucrose, coupling sugar, glucose, enzyme saccharified starch syrup, acid saccharified starch syrup, maltose starch syrup, maltose, isomerized sugar, fructose, reduced maltose, reduced starch syrup, and honey.

Polyhydric alcohol esters are exemplified by polyhydric alcohol esters of fatty acids. Examples of polyhydric alcohol esters of fatty acids include fatty acid triglycerides.

The dispersion medium is a substance that is liquid at normal temperature.

Of the above, the use of water alone or water in combination with a substance that dissolves in water is preferred.

Of these, the use of a mixed dispersion medium of water and glycerol is preferred from the standpoint of adjusting the average particle size of finely ground leaf tobacco within the desired range. No particular limitation is imposed on the mixing ratio of water with a dispersion medium other than water. When water and glycerol are used, they can be mixed in any ratio.

Tobacco products to which tobacco material is added are not particularly limited, and are exemplified by smoking articles. Illustrative examples of smoking articles include cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, hookah tobacco, and Japanese pipe tobacco.

Because tobacco material is obtained by dispersing tobacco leaf particles in a liquid dispersion medium, the tobacco material can take the form of a suspension.

In order for the tobacco material to take the form of a suspension, the liquid dispersion medium and the leaf tobacco particles are mixed in a weight ratio of generally 1 part leaf tobacco to 1.5 to 99 parts by weight of tobacco material, such that the leaf tobacco particles represent 1 to 40% by weight of the tobacco material.

In cases where the tobacco material is in suspension form, the tobacco material is added equally and uniformly to the smoking article, for example, using a spray or similar to apply the tobacco material to the smoking article. In this way, the smoke flavor ingredients present in the tobacco material can be evenly imparted to the tobacco product.

Tobacco material is applied to shredded tobacco.

When tobacco material is to be added to cigarettes, it may also be added to the cigarette paper, filter, tipping paper, or similar components that make up the cigarettes. The addition may be made in a single location, or in two or more locations, such as, for example, in the shredded tobacco and the tipping paper. Alternatively, it is also possible to impart different smoke flavors during the act of smoking a tobacco product, such as a cigarette, by adding tobacco materials obtained from different types of tobacco to different locations in the cigarette paper.

In cases where tobacco material is added to a cigarette filter, the tobacco material becomes impregnated in the filter.

The tobacco product contains shredded tobacco to impart a desired smoke flavor to the tobacco product. The weight ratio of the tobacco material to the shredded tobacco is such that the weight ratio of leaf tobacco particles with an average particle size of 30 gm or less included in the tobacco material, based on the weight of the shredded tobacco, is 0.01 to 5%.

In cases where leaf tobacco with a strong flavor is used in the tobacco material, a smaller weight ratio may be used (e.g., about 0.01 to 0.1%).

No particular limitation is imposed on the variety of tobacco present in the shredded tobacco to which the tobacco material is added.

In addition to the finely ground leaf tobacco particles described above, various additives may be added to the tobacco material. Illustrative examples include spearmint leaves, peppermint leaves, and tea leaves, such as green tea for smoke flavoring; food ingredients such as coffee, cocoa, cardamom, menthol, and sugar; polysaccharide thickeners such as glucan and pectin used to improve dispersibility by adjusting viscosity; food additives such as various types of emulsifiers; sizing agents such as sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC); and curing agents to improve workability after addition to the leaf tobacco.

The timing of these additives is not specifically specified; they may be added before fine grinding of the leaf tobacco raw material so that the additives are finely ground together, or they may be added to the slurry obtained after fine grinding.

These additives can be mixed with the leaf tobacco particles in any ratio.

Leaf tobacco particles having the specific average particle size indicated above and the dispersion medium are included in the tobacco material in a combined amount, based on the total amount of the tobacco material, of at least 95% by weight.

EXAMPLES

The invention is described in more detail below by way of examples. However, the invention is not limited to the following examples.

<Example 1>

The following tests were performed on smoking articles made using tobacco materials to determine whether the smoke flavor was imparted uniformly.

1. Crushed tobacco

Shredded tobacco used in commercially sold cigarettes was used in both Example 1 and Comparative Example 1.

2. Formation of suspension from leaf tobacco raw material

1) The tobacco used was Latakia tobacco, a type of fermented leaf tobacco that, as a raw material for leaf tobacco, has a strong flavor that is easily detected with a small amount added. This leaf tobacco raw material was ground using a dry grinding mill (Wonder Blender WB-1, Osaka Chemical Co., Ltd.), resulting in a leaf tobacco powder with a particle size of 70 to 250 µm.

2) Then, 800 g of glycerol and 200 g of water were added as a dispersion medium to 250 g of Latakia tobacco powder, and stirring was carried out with a spatula to obtain an intimately mixed liquid.

3) This intimate mixture was ground at 1,200 rpm for 10 minutes using a wet fine mill (Micros MIC-2, Nara Machinery Co., Ltd.).

The average particle size of the leaf tobacco particles contained in the resulting tobacco suspension (tobacco material) was about 8.8 pm.

3. Production of pulverized cigarettes with Latakia tobacco suspension (tobacco material)

• The production method of the cigarette samples for which the experimental results shown in Table 1 were obtained is described below.

1) Production of S-1 cigarettes: Using a pulverizer, 100 g of shredded tobacco was precisely pulverized with 0.05 g of the suspension prepared in section 2.3) above (weight of Latakia tobacco in it, 0.01 g), and then air-dried. Cigarettes were produced using this shredded tobacco.

2) Production of S-2 cigarettes: Using a pulverizer, 100 g of shredded tobacco was precisely pulverized with 0.5 g of the suspension prepared in section 2.3) above (weight of Latakia tobacco in it, 0.1 g), and then air-dried. Cigarettes were produced using this shredded tobacco.

3) Production of S-3 cigarettes: Using a pulverizer, 100 g of shredded tobacco was precisely pulverized with 5 g of the suspension prepared in section 2.3) above (weight of Latakia tobacco in it, 1 g), and then air-dried. Cigarettes were produced using this shredded tobacco.

4) Production of S-4 cigarettes: Using a pulverizer, 100 g of shredded tobacco was precisely pulverized with 25 g of the suspension prepared in section 2.3) above (weight of Latakia tobacco in it, 5 g), and then air-dried. Cigarettes were produced using this shredded tobacco.

<Comparative Example 1>

Comparative product production (cigarettes in which crushed Latakia tobacco was blended)

Shredded Latakia tobacco was added in amounts of 1% by weight or 5% by weight to the commercial shredded tobacco and thoroughly blended. Cigarettes were produced using the resulting blended tobaccos. The sample names for the respective cigarettes thus obtained were K-1 and K-2.

Controls were prepared by producing cigarettes using commercial shredded tobacco (in which no shredded Latakia tobacco was mixed).

<Sensory evaluations>

(Evaluation of non-uniformity in smoke flavor depending on the act of smoking)

The samples evaluated were the following six types prepared as described above: K-1, K-2, S-1, S-2, S-3, and S-4. Each sample was evaluated with a "Yes" or "No" response as to whether the smoke flavor was uneven and whether, compared with the control, there was a change in smoke flavor. The smoking order is the order of the samples starting with the control. The evaluation was performed by 20 male panelists (age, 40 ± 7 years) who were instructed to take five or more puffs when smoking a cigarette.

(Evaluation results)

The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[Table 1]

Table 1

<Evaluations of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1>

Cigarettes were produced by converting Latakia tobacco, a type of fermented leaf, into a slurry and spraying the slurry onto shredded tobacco (Example 1). As a comparative product, cigarettes were produced in which shredded Latakia tobacco was blended in a fixed ratio (Comparative Example 1). The smoke flavors of the cigarettes produced in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 were tested by smoking the cigarettes, as a result of which it was possible to confirm that the cigarettes obtained by pulverizing the tobacco material had a smoke flavor that was less uneven than cigarettes obtained by the conventional blending method (involving blending shredded tobacco with another type of shredded tobacco). It was confirmed from this that, even in cases where a small amount of tobacco material was used, the smoke flavor can be imparted uniformly even to smoking articles such as cigarettes.

Therefore, by using tobacco material, it is possible to achieve a subtle design in the smoke flavor of smoking articles.

<Example 2 and Comparative Example 2>

1. Tobacco raw material

As in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, commercially sold shredded tobacco was used.

2. Production of menthol-flavored tobacco raw material

A 50% by weight menthol solution was prepared, and 20 g of the solution was uniformly sprayed onto 90 g of tobacco raw material. After spraying, the pulverized tobacco raw material was allowed to stand for at least one day to allow the menthol to mix. The menthol concentration of this tobacco raw material was measured and found to be 10.8% by weight.

The tobacco raw material is hereinafter referred to as "shredded tobacco," and the menthol-flavored tobacco raw material is referred to as "menthol-flavored shredded tobacco." 3. Forming a suspension from menthol-flavored shredded tobacco

1) The menthol-flavored shredded tobacco was ground with a dry mill (Wonder Blender WB-1, Osaka Chemical Co., Ltd.), yielding leaf tobacco powder having a particle size of 70 to 250 gm.

2) Then, 800 g of glycerol and 200 g of water were added to 250 g of menthol-flavored crushed tobacco powder as a dispersion medium, and stirring was carried out with a spatula to obtain an intimately mixed liquid.

3) This intimate mixture was processed at 1,200 rpm for 10 minutes using a wet fine mill (Micros MIC-2, Nara Machinery Co., Ltd.).

The resulting tobacco suspension (tobacco material) had a menthol concentration of 2.2% by weight.

The average particle size of leaf tobacco was 15.6 pm.

4. Production of pulverized cigarettes with a suspension of crushed tobacco with menthol flavor

• The production method of the cigarette samples for which the experimental results shown in Tables 2 and 3 were obtained is described below.

1) Production of T-1 cigarettes: Using a pulverizer, 99 g of shredded tobacco was precisely pulverized with 5 g of the suspension prepared in section 3.4) above, and then air-dried. Cigarettes were produced using this shredded tobacco.

2) Production of T-5 cigarettes: Using a pulverizer, 95 g of shredded tobacco was precisely pulverized with 25 g of the suspension prepared in section 3.4) above, and then air-dried. Cigarettes were produced using this shredded tobacco.

5. Production of comparative product (cigarettes in which shredded tobacco with menthol flavor was mixed)

Menthol-flavored shredded tobacco was added in an amount of 5, 10, or 20% by weight to the non-menthol-flavored shredded tobacco and thoroughly blended. Cigarettes were produced using the blended tobacco. The sample names for the respective cigarettes thus obtained were U-5, U-10, and U-20. 6. Analysis of the uneven distribution of menthol

1) The tobacco joint of the respective samples produced as described above, i.e., cigarettes T-1, T-5, U-5, U-10, and U-20, was cut every 4 mm (equivalent to the burning length that occurs with a single puff) as shown in FIG. 1. The cutting started at a position 4 mm from the filter, and continued to a position 44 mm from the filter. The tobacco joint of each sample was cut into ten 4 mm pieces.

2) The menthol concentrations of individual cut pieces from each sample were analyzed. The results are presented in Table 2. In addition, the mean value, standard deviation, and coefficient of variance of the menthol concentration of the cut pieces from each sample were determined. The results are presented in Table 3.

[Table 2]

Table 2

[Table 3]

Table 3

Mean values, standard deviations, and coefficients of variation for menthol concentrations of cut pieces from each sample

mean (Standard deviation of weight variation) (%)

Example 2 (flavored 0.09 0.01 6.4 spray)

0.46 0.02 4.6

Mean values, standard deviations, and coefficients of variation for menthol concentrations of cut pieces from each sample

variation

As described above, a tobacco raw material to which menthol had been added was finely ground using a fine-grinding mill, thereby preparing a tobacco material containing tobacco particles of the particle size specified in this invention. Cigarettes were subsequently produced containing shredded tobacco, which was sprayed with this tobacco material by means of a sprayer. In addition, cigarettes in which a tobacco raw material to which menthol had been added at a fixed ratio had been mixed (blended) were produced as comparative products.

The menthol content of these cigarettes was quantitatively analyzed by gas chromatography.

As shown in Table 3, when tobacco material was added to cigarettes, compared to cases where a conventional blending method (in which one shredded tobacco is mixed with another shredded tobacco) was used, the variation in menthol concentration between individual cut pieces was very small, demonstrating that the finely ground leaf tobacco raw material is uniformly present in each of the cut pieces of the cigarette. Notably, even in cases where the amount of tobacco material added was small, the variation in concentration between cut pieces was found to be small (the coefficient of variation was small).

This demonstrates that by using tobacco material, it is possible to achieve a subtle design in the smoke flavor of smoking articles.

<Example 3>

As in Example 1, tobacco suspensions (tobacco materials) were prepared using different types of leaf tobacco raw materials. The types of leaf tobacco raw materials and the treatment methods used are shown in Table 4 below.

The average particle size was determined using a Shimadzu Corporation SALD-2100 system with a refractive index setting of 1.60 to 0.10 i.

[Table 4]

Table 4

Using a fine-grinding mill to finely grind leaf tobacco under the conditions shown in Table 4, tobacco suspensions (tobacco materials) were obtained containing leaf tobacco particles with respective average sizes of 8.8 to 26.5 µm. It was possible to obtain tobacco materials containing leaf tobacco particles with an average size of 30 µm or less, as specified in this invention, in all samples.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Tobacco material can uniformly impart a smoke flavor in very small amounts to various types of smoking articles, and is therefore distinguished as a means of imparting smoke flavor to tobacco products such as smoking articles. Furthermore, tobacco material contains leaf tobacco that has not undergone any chemical or similar treatment, making it a material that retains the smoke flavor inherent to tobacco.

Claims (2)

1.A tobacco product to which a tobacco material has been added; the tobacco material comprising: leaf tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 µm or less; and a dispersion medium for dispersing the particles; wherein the dispersion medium is a substance that is a liquid at normal temperature; wherein the weight ratio of leaf tobacco particles, based on the total weight of the tobacco material, is from 1 to 40% by weight, and The leaf tobacco particles and the dispersion medium are included in the tobacco material in a combined amount, based on the total amount of the tobacco material, of at least 95% by weight; and wherein the tobacco product contains shredded tobacco, the tobacco material is applied to the shredded tobacco, and the weight ratio of leaf tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 µm or less, based on the weight of the shredded tobacco, is from 0.01 to 5%. 2. The tobacco product according to claim 1, wherein the dispersion medium is one or more selected from water, monohydric alcohols, polyhydric alcohols, sugar alcohols, sugars, and esters of polyhydric alcohols.