WO2013146952A1 - Processing method for tobacco material - Google Patents

Description

Tobacco raw material processing method

The present invention relates to a method for treating a tobacco raw material, and more particularly, to a method for treating a tobacco raw material including a step of raising the pH of the tobacco raw material to an alkaline pH.

Conventionally, products (hereinafter referred to as smokeless cigarettes) that provide flavor to users without burning cigarette leaves, such as snuff cigarettes such as snus, chewing cigarettes, and flavor suction tools, are known.

As a method for processing such a raw material for smokeless tobacco, a method of adding a basic substance to the tobacco raw material and adjusting the pH of the tobacco raw material so as to obtain an alkaline pH has been widely practiced.

For example, as described in Patent Document 1, by adjusting the pH of a tobacco raw material in a wet state (high moisture state), a tobacco raw material that improves the stability of the pH during storage of the final tobacco product. Processing methods are known.

However, in the conventional method for treating tobacco raw materials as described in Patent Document 1 described above, a basic substance is added to the tobacco raw material so as to have an alkaline pH, thereby causing adverse effects in the tobacco raw material. There was a problem that the volatility of the product increased and the flavor was adversely affected.

Special table 2010-534475

A first feature of the present invention is a method for treating a tobacco raw material including a step of raising the pH of the tobacco raw material to an alkaline pH, the pH of the tobacco raw material being raised to the alkaline pH, and water content in the tobacco raw material. Step A of adding a basic substance and water to the tobacco raw material until the rate reaches 30% by weight or more, and after the step A is performed, the water content in the tobacco raw material becomes 5% by weight or less. Up to this point, the present invention includes the step B of subjecting the tobacco raw material to a heat treatment and a drying treatment.

In the first feature of the present invention, in the step B, the drying treatment may be performed while aeration is performed.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the method may further include a step of finely pulverizing the tobacco raw material to generate tobacco powder having a particle size of 0.212 mm to 1.18 mm before the step A is performed. .

In the first aspect of the present invention, the tobacco raw material in step A has a pH of at least 8.0 or higher, and the tobacco raw material after the drying treatment in step B has a pH of 8.0 or higher. It may be.

In the first feature of the present invention, the heating temperature in the heat treatment in the step B may be at least 80 ° C. or higher.

In the first feature of the present invention, in the step B, the heat treatment and the drying treatment may be performed in a state where a pressure reduction treatment is performed.

In the first feature of the present invention, the gauge pressure in the decompression process may be −0.1 MPa or less.

In the first feature of the present invention, the basic substance may be composed of at least one of carbonate or bicarbonate.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a method for processing tobacco raw materials according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a table showing the results of Experiment 1 of the method for treating tobacco raw materials according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a table showing the results (measurement results of ammonium ions) of Experiment 2 of the method for treating tobacco raw materials according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a table showing the results of Experiment 2 (measurement results of trimethylamine) of the method for treating tobacco raw materials according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining Experiment 4 of the method for treating tobacco raw materials according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining Experiment 4 of the method for treating tobacco raw materials according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining Experiment 4 of the method for treating tobacco raw materials according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining Experiment 5 of the method for treating tobacco raw materials according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining Experiment 5 of the method for treating tobacco raw materials according to the embodiment of the present invention.

(One embodiment of the present invention)
With reference to FIG. 1, the processing method of the tobacco raw material (especially raw material for smokeless tobacco) which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

As shown in FIG. 1, in step S101, the tobacco raw material is adjusted. Here, as the tobacco raw material, those having various shapes such as a cut and a granular material can be used.

As the tobacco raw material, a granular material having a particle size of 0.212 mm to 1.18 mm may be preferably used, and a granular material having a particle size of 0.5 mm to 1.18 mm is more preferably used. Also good.

Here, when a granular material having a particle size of less than 0.212 mm is used as the tobacco raw material, the tobacco raw material after performing the hydrotreatment described below becomes a lump, and enough bad habits derived from the tobacco raw material are obtained. Can not be removed.

On the other hand, when a granular material having a particle diameter larger than 1.18 mm is used as a tobacco raw material, the filling accuracy deteriorates when the tobacco raw material is filled in a pouch or the like.

In step S102, a hydration process and a pH adjustment process are performed.

For example, the tobacco raw material is subjected to a hydration treatment until the moisture content in the tobacco raw material becomes 30% by weight or more, more preferably until the moisture content in the tobacco raw material becomes 35% by weight or more. Furthermore, it is preferable to subject the tobacco raw material to a water treatment until the moisture content in the tobacco raw material becomes 40% by weight or more. The upper limit of the moisture content after the hydrotreatment is not particularly limited, but is preferably less than 50% by weight.

By such a hydrolysis treatment, bad illness derived from tobacco raw materials can be sufficiently removed in the heat treatment and drying treatment described later. That is, when the moisture content in the tobacco raw material is lower than 30% by weight before the drying treatment, even if the tobacco raw material is dried to an absolutely dry state in the drying treatment, the bad habits derived from the tobacco raw material are sufficiently removed. Can not do it.

Further, in the pH adjustment treatment, the pH of the tobacco raw material is increased to an alkaline pH, for example, from 8.0 to 11.0, more preferably from 9.0 to 10.0.

Here, as the pH adjuster, a known basic substance such as a carbonate such as potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate or calcium carbonate, or a hydrogen carbonate such as sodium hydrogen carbonate can be used.

Also, by adding such a pH adjuster as an aqueous solution, the moisture content and pH in the tobacco raw material can be adjusted simultaneously, and the processing time can be shortened.

Furthermore, in such a hydration treatment and pH adjustment treatment, a sugar or an amino acid may be imparted for the purpose of accelerating the Maillard reaction in the heat treatment described later and imparting a preferable flavor.

In step S103, heat treatment and drying treatment are performed. For example, the tobacco raw material is subjected to heat treatment and drying treatment until the moisture content in the tobacco raw material becomes 5% by weight or less. As a result, bad habits derived from tobacco raw materials can be sufficiently removed.

Here, the tobacco raw material is subjected to heat treatment until a predetermined temperature (for example, 80 ° C. to 130 ° C.) is reached.

When the drying process is performed in a state where the tobacco raw material reaches the predetermined temperature and is ventilated, the drying efficiency is improved, and further, the components contributing to the bad habit of the tobacco raw material are discharged out of the system. be able to.

In such a case, the tobacco raw material after the heat treatment and the drying treatment is treated so that the pH of the raw material becomes 8.0 to 9.5, more preferably 8.5 to 9.0.

On the other hand, when the heat treatment and the drying treatment are performed in a state where the tobacco raw material is decompressed, the drying efficiency is improved and the treatment time can be shortened. Here, for example, the gauge pressure during decompression is preferably −0.1 MPa or less.

In such a case, the tobacco raw material after the heat treatment and the drying treatment is treated so that the pH of the tobacco raw material is 8.0 to 11.0, more preferably 8.5 to 9.0.

In step S104, a cooling process is performed. For example, in a state where ventilation or decompression is performed, the temperature of the tobacco material is cooled to room temperature (eg, 35 ° C. or lower).

Here, as the drying treatment and the cooling treatment are performed, the pH of the tobacco raw material is lowered. However, the pH of the tobacco raw material at the end of the cooling treatment is 8.0 to 11.0, more preferably 8.5 to It is desirable to be within the range of 9.0.

In step S105, re-humidification processing is performed. For example, in such re-humidification treatment, moisture is added to the tobacco material, and the moisture content is adjusted to about 12% in the tobacco material.

In step S106, a fragrance addition process is performed. For example, in this fragrance | flavor addition process, arbitrary fragrance | flavor is added with respect to a tobacco raw material as needed.

The tobacco raw material processing method according to the present embodiment can sufficiently remove the bad habits derived from the tobacco raw material.

<Experiment 1>
In Experiment 1, the relationship between the moisture content in the tobacco raw material before the heat treatment and the drying treatment and the amount of the bad habit component derived from the tobacco raw material after the heat treatment and the drying treatment was investigated.

In Experiment 1, the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Comparative Example 1 and the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Example 1 were used.

In the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Comparative Example 1, the moisture content of the tobacco raw material before the heat treatment and the drying treatment is about 25% by weight. In the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Example 1, the heat treatment and the dry treatment are performed. The water content in the previous tobacco raw material was about 40% by weight.

In the experiment 1, the tobacco raw material sample 1 before the drying process in the tobacco raw material processing method according to the comparative example 1 and the tobacco raw material sample 2 before the drying process in the tobacco raw material processing method according to the example 1 are generated. In addition, a rocking autoclave (capacity: 10 L, Aichi Electric) was used.

In Experiment 1, potassium carbonate is added to the tobacco raw material (pulverized tobacco leaf powder) so that the pH of the tobacco raw material is 9.0, so that the target moisture content is obtained. Samples 1 and 2 were prepared by subjecting the tobacco raw material to a water treatment.

Thereafter, the sample 1 and 2 were stirred and mixed for 30 minutes. Next, after performing the heat treatment on samples 1 and 2 while performing such stirring and mixing treatment, both samples 1 and 2 are in an absolutely dry state (the water content in samples 1 and 2 is 1 to 3% by weight). Drying was performed until

At this time, ventilation was performed for the purpose of improving the drying efficiency and discharging harmful components out of the system. After the system was cooled, samples 1 and 2 were collected, the collected samples 1 and 2 were extracted with dilute sulfuric acid, and ammonium ions contained in the extracted samples 1 and 2 were measured.

Here, an experiment was also conducted on a tobacco raw material (sample 0) to which no basic substance was added. That is, the collected sample 0 was extracted with dilute sulfuric acid, and the amount of ammonium ions contained in the sample 0 was measured (see “NH 4 +” in “untreated” in FIG. 2).

According to the result of Experiment 1, as shown in FIG. 2, when the amount of ammonium ions per 1 g of tobacco dry weight contained in Sample 0 is used as a reference, the amount of ammonium ions contained in Sample 2 is 90%. In contrast to the above, the reduced amount of ammonium ions contained in Sample 1 remained at about 60%.

As a result of sensory evaluation by eight evaluators using these samples, an evaluation result that sample 2 was significantly reduced in badness compared to sample 1 was obtained.

From the above results, it can be seen that, in the treatment of the tobacco raw material to which the basic substance is added, ammonium ions can be sufficiently removed when the moisture content of the tobacco raw material before the heat treatment and the drying treatment is in a high wet state of about 40% .

That is, the moisture content of the tobacco raw material before the heat treatment is about 25% even when the moisture content of the tobacco raw material after the drying treatment is almost completely dry as in the method for treating the tobacco raw material according to Comparative Example 1. In the case where it is retained, it can be seen that a bad habit component such as an ammonium ion whose volatility increases with the addition of a basic substance cannot be sufficiently removed, and the bad habit is not sufficiently removed.

<Experiment 2>
In Experiment 2, the relationship between the moisture content in the tobacco raw material after the heat treatment and the drying treatment and the amount of components of bad habit derived from the tobacco raw material was investigated.

In Experiment 2, the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Comparative Example 2 and the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Example 2 were used.

In the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Comparative Example 2, the moisture content in the tobacco raw material after the drying treatment is about 15% by weight. In the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Example 2, the moisture content in the tobacco raw material after the drying treatment is used. The rate was about 2% by weight.

In Experiment 2, the tobacco raw material sample 3 after drying in the tobacco raw material processing method according to Comparative Example 2 and the tobacco raw material sample 4 after drying in the tobacco raw material processing method according to Example 2 were generated. In addition, a rocking autoclave (capacity: 10 L, Aichi Electric) was used. Moreover, the domestic burley leaf was used for the tobacco leaf as a tobacco raw material.

In Experiment 2, potassium carbonate was added so that the weight relative to the weight of the tobacco raw material (pulverized tobacco leaf powder) was 11%, and the moisture content was about 40% by weight. Then, the mixture was stirred and mixed for 30 minutes.

Next, after performing the heat treatment on the tobacco raw material while performing the stirring and mixing treatment, the sample 3 of the tobacco raw material having a different moisture content after the drying treatment is changed by changing the time of the drying treatment applied to the tobacco raw material. And 4 were produced. Here, the moisture content after drying treatment of Sample 3 and Sample 4 was about 15 wt% and about 2 wt%, respectively.

At this time, ventilation was performed for the purpose of improving the drying efficiency and discharging harmful components out of the system. After cooling the system, a sample of the tobacco material is collected and analyzed by headspace analysis using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Ammonium ions and trimethylamine contained in the sample of the tobacco material (derived from the tobacco material) The component of the bad habit to do was measured.

Here, an experiment was also conducted on a tobacco raw material (sample 0) to which no basic substance was added. That is, the recovered sample 0 was extracted with dilute sulfuric acid, and the amount of ammonium ions contained in the sample 0 was measured (see “NH3” in “untreated” in FIG. 2).

According to the results of Experiment 2, as shown in FIG. 3, when the amount of ammonium ions per gram dry weight of tobacco contained in Sample 0 is used as a reference, the amount of ammonium ions contained in Sample 3 and Sample 4 are reduced. Both of the reduced amounts of ammonium ions contained are about 80% or more, and the ammonium ions are sufficiently removed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, it was found that the amount of trimethylamine contained in Sample 3 was larger than the amount of trimethylamine contained in Sample 4.

Here, the vertical axis of FIG. 4 shows the peak area value of trimethylamine obtained by GC-MS.

In Sample 0 to which no basic substance was added, since trimethylamine was not detected, it is assumed that trimethylamine was volatilized due to the addition of the basic substance to the tobacco raw material.

As a result of sensory evaluation by eight evaluators using these samples, an evaluation result that sample 4 was significantly reduced in badness compared to sample 3 was obtained.

Based on the above results, it is possible to sufficiently remove harmful components such as trimethylamine that volatilizes with the addition of basic substances by drying the tobacco raw material to a nearly dry state after the drying treatment. I understand.

That is, as in the tobacco raw material processing method according to Comparative Example 2, the moisture content of the tobacco raw material after the drying treatment is about 15% even when the moisture content of the tobacco raw material before the heat treatment is in a highly moist state of about 40%. When the amount is limited to a certain level, it can be seen that an annoying component such as trimethylamine which volatilizes with the addition of the basic substance cannot be sufficiently removed.

Based on the results of Experiments 1 and 2, in the method for treating tobacco raw materials (raw materials for smokeless tobacco) to which basic substances are added, in order to sufficiently remove bad habits caused by the addition of basic substances, It can be seen that it is important that the moisture content of the tobacco raw material before the treatment is in a highly moist state and the moisture content of the tobacco raw material after the drying treatment is in a nearly dry state.

<Experiment 3>
In Experiment 3, the processing time when pressure reduction was performed in heat treatment and drying treatment was investigated.

In Experiment 3, the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Comparative Example 3 and the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Example 3 were used.

In both the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Comparative Example 3 and the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Example 3, the moisture content of the tobacco raw material before the heat treatment and the drying treatment was about 40% by weight.

In Experiment 3, the sample 5 of the tobacco raw material before the heat treatment and the drying treatment in the method for treating the tobacco raw material according to Comparative Example 3 and the tobacco raw material before the heat treatment and the drying treatment in the method for treating the tobacco raw material according to Example 3 were used. In order to produce Sample 6, a rocking autoclave (capacity: 10 L, Aichi Electric) was used.

In Experiment 3, potassium carbonate is added to the tobacco raw material (pulverized tobacco leaf powder) so that the pH of the tobacco raw material is 9.0 so that the target moisture content is obtained. Samples 5 and 6 were prepared by subjecting the tobacco raw material to a water treatment.

Thereafter, the sample 5 and 6 were stirred and mixed for 30 minutes. Next, after performing the heat treatment on the samples 5 and 6 while performing the pressure reduction treatment while performing the stirring and mixing treatment, both the samples 5 and 6 are almost completely dry (the water content in the samples 6 and 7). The drying treatment was performed until the rate reached 1 to 3% by weight.

Here, the gauge pressure in the decompression process for sample 5 is −0.1 MPa or less (in this experiment 3, −0.092 MPa), and the decompression process is not performed for sample 6, and the process is performed at almost atmospheric pressure. Carried out.

According to the results of Experiment 3, the processing time when the pressure reduction was performed in the heat treatment and the drying treatment in the tobacco raw material treatment method according to Example 3 was about 90 minutes, and the tobacco raw material treatment according to Comparative Example 3 was processed. The processing time when pressure reduction was performed in the heat treatment and the drying treatment in the method was about 120 minutes.

From the results of Experiment 3, it can be seen that the treatment time can be shortened by reducing the pressure in the heat treatment and the drying treatment.

<Experiment 4>
In Experiment 4, the relationship between the moisture content in the tobacco raw material after the heat treatment and the drying treatment and the amount of components of bad habit derived from the tobacco raw material was investigated. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the moisture before the heat treatment and the drying treatment (that is, the moisture after the hydrolysis treatment and the pH adjustment treatment) and the moisture after the heat treatment and the drying treatment are values shown in FIG. Samples 10 to 16 were prepared and measured for the reduction rate of ammonium ions.

As shown in FIG. 6, it was confirmed that the smaller the moisture after the drying process, the greater the reduction rate of ammonium ions. In particular, for sample 14 and sample 15, when the reduction rate of ammonium ions is 90% or more and the water content after heat treatment and drying treatment is 5% by weight or less, ammonium that volatilizes with the addition of the basic substance It can be seen that bad habit components such as ions can be sufficiently removed.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, when the amount of moisture reduction before and after the heat treatment and the drying treatment is constant (here, about 30%), In comparison, it was confirmed that Sample 13 with more moisture before the heat treatment and the drying treatment had a higher reduction rate of ammonium ions. That is, when the amount of moisture reduction before and after the heat treatment and the drying treatment is constant, if the water content before the heat treatment and the drying treatment is 40% by weight or more, ammonium ions that volatilize with the addition of the basic substance It can be seen that it is easy to remove bad habit components such as

<Experiment 5>
In Experiment 5, the relationship between the moisture content in the tobacco raw material after the heat treatment and the drying treatment and the amount of components of bad habit derived from the tobacco raw material was investigated. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the moisture before the heat treatment and the drying treatment (that is, the moisture after the hydrolysis treatment and the pH adjustment treatment) and the moisture after the heat treatment and the drying treatment are values shown in FIG. Samples 20 to 23 were prepared and the reduction rate of each component (ammonium ion, trimethylamine, N-methylpyrrolidine) was measured.

As shown in FIG. 9, it was confirmed that the reduction rate of ammonium ions, trimethylamine, and N-methylpyrrolidine was 90% or more in Sample 23 in which the water content after the heat treatment and the drying treatment was 5% by weight or less. In particular, in the sample 23, the reduction rate of trimethylamine with respect to the sample 20 exceeds 95%, and even when compared with the sample 22, it is further reduced by about 60% from the sample 22. For trimethylamine, an improvement of about 60% gave very good results in sensory evaluation. Thus, it turns out that the bad habit ingredient which volatilizes with the addition of a basic substance can fully be removed by making the water | moisture content after heat processing and a drying process into 5 weight% or less.

As described above, the present invention has been described in detail using the above-described embodiments. However, it is obvious for those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in the present specification. The present invention can be implemented as modified and changed modes without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the description of the scope of claims. Therefore, the description of the present specification is for illustrative purposes and does not have any limiting meaning to the present invention.

Note that the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-083185 (filed on March 30, 2012) are incorporated herein by reference.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for treating a tobacco raw material capable of sufficiently removing bad illness derived from the tobacco raw material.

Claims (8)

A method for treating tobacco raw material, including a step of raising the pH of the tobacco raw material to an alkaline pH,
Increasing the pH of the tobacco raw material to the alkaline pH and adding a basic substance and water to the tobacco raw material until the moisture content in the tobacco raw material is 30% by weight or more; and
After the step A is performed, the tobacco raw material has a step B of performing a heat treatment and a drying treatment on the tobacco raw material until a moisture content in the tobacco raw material becomes 5% by weight or less. Processing method. The method for treating a tobacco raw material according to claim 1, wherein in the step B, the drying treatment is performed while aeration is performed. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of finely pulverizing the tobacco raw material to produce a tobacco powder having a particle size of 0.212 mm to 1.18 mm before the step A is performed. The processing method of the tobacco raw material as described. PH of the tobacco raw material in the step A is at least 8.0 or more,
The tobacco raw material treatment method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a pH of the tobacco raw material after the drying treatment in the step B is 8.0 or more. The method for treating a tobacco raw material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a heating temperature in the heat treatment in the step B is at least 80 ° C or higher. 6. The method for treating a tobacco raw material according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein in the step B, the heat treatment and the drying treatment are performed in a state where a pressure reduction treatment is performed. The method for treating a tobacco raw material according to claim 6, wherein a gauge pressure in the decompression treatment is -0.1 MPa or less. The method for treating a tobacco raw material according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the basic substance comprises at least one of a carbonate and a hydrogen carbonate.

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