Patent Application
20240381925
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0064036 filed on May 17, 2023, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
One or more embodiments relate to a smoking article including cigar expanded cut tobacco and a method of manufacturing the same.
Traditionally, cigar leaves are aged with various flavors added, and then rolled and sold as cigar tobacco. However, traditional cigars have a very strong smoking taste and are irritating and expensive, and thus the cigars have been used only by a very limited group of smokers.
Embodiments provide a smoking article including cigar leaf tobacco having excellent physical properties as the smoking article while reducing irritation and manufacturing cost.
However, technical goals to be achieved are not limited to those described above, and other goals not mentioned above may be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from the following description.
According to an aspect, there is provided a smoking article including a medium portion, and a filter portion, wherein the medium portion includes cigar leaf tobacco and cigar expanded cut tobacco.
According to an aspect, there is provided a method of manufacturing a smoking article, the method including step S1 of manufacturing cigar expanded cut tobacco by expanding cigar leaf tobacco, step S2 of blending leaves of the cigar expanded cut tobacco and the cigar leaf tobacco, and step S3 of wrapping the cigar expanded cut tobacco and the cigar leaf tobacco with a printed cigar wrapper. An expansion temperature in step S1 is 180° C. to 350° C.
Additional aspects of embodiments will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.
The smoking article of the present disclosure may provide mild taste with reduced irritation while maintaining cigar odor. In addition, the smoking article of the present disclosure has excellent filling power to reduce a cigarette weight, and there is no problem of sticking-out despite the reduction of the cigarette weight. Also, the smoking article of the present disclosure has excellent storage and combustibility.
Using the method of manufacturing the smoking article of the present disclosure, it is possible to reduce problems of irritation and sticking-out, reduce manufacturing cost, and efficiently use energy.
It should be understood that the effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described effects, but are construed as including all effects that may be inferred from the configurations and features described in the following description or claims of the present disclosure.
These and/or other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be made to the embodiments. Here, the embodiments are not construed as limited to the disclosure. The embodiments should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the idea and the technical scope of the disclosure.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not to be limiting of the embodiments. The singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises/comprising” and/or “includes/including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
When describing the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components and a repeated description related thereto will be omitted. In the description of embodiments, detailed description of well-known related structures or functions will be omitted when it is deemed that such description will cause ambiguous interpretation of the present disclosure.
In addition, the terms first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used to describe constituent elements of the embodiments. These terms are used only for the purpose of discriminating one component from another component, and the nature, the sequences, or the orders of the components are not limited by the terms.
A component, which has the same common function as a component included in any one embodiment, will be described by using the same name in other embodiments. Unless disclosed to the contrary, the description of any one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments, and the specific description of the repeated configuration will be omitted.
It will be understood that when a certain part “includes” a certain component, the part does not exclude another component but may further include another component.
A “smoking article” herein refers to an article capable of generating an aerosol, such as a cigarette, cigar, or the like. The smoking article may include an aerosol generating material or an aerosol forming material. The smoking article may further include solid materials based on tobacco raw materials such as plate-shaped leaf tobacco, cut tobacco, or reconstituted tobacco. A smoking material may include a volatile compound.
Throughout the disclosure, an “upstream” or “upstream direction” refers to a direction away from the mouth of a user who smokes the smoking article and a “downstream” or “downstream direction” refers to a direction toward the mouth of the user who smokes the smoking article.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a smoking article including a medium portion and a filter portion, wherein the medium portion includes cigar leaf tobacco and cigar expanded cut tobacco.
Cigar leaf tobacco may include, for example, Cuban cigar leaves, Dominican cigar leaves, Paraguayan cigar leaves, Brazilian cigar leaves, Philippine cigar leaves, Indonesian cigar leaves, Colombian cigar leaves, and the like, however, the cigar leaf tobacco is not limited to the above examples.
Cigar leaf tobacco may have mesophyll that is thinner than that of flue-cured tobacco. By using the cigar leaf tobacco having mesophyll that is thinner than that of flue-cured tobacco, the leaf tobacco may be expanded at a lower temperature than the flue-cured tobacco, thereby reducing energy.
The cigar expanded cut tobacco may be obtained by expanding the cigar leaf tobacco. The expanding of the cigar leaf tobacco may reduce tar, nicotine, and the like in a smoke component, reduce irritation, and manufacture a more economical smoking article.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a moisture content of the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be 12% to 15%. For example, the moisture content of the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be 13.4% to 22% or 13.4% to 15%. When the moisture content is lower than the above range, a fine powder such as crumbs of the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be generated, and an expansion yield may be lowered. On the other hand, when the moisture content is higher than the above range, mold or off-odor may be generated, which makes long-term storage be difficult.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the moisture content of the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be reduced by 4% to 12% compared to that before the expanding. That is, the moisture content of the cigar expanded cut tobacco before the expanding may be 19% to 24%.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the moisture content of the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be greater than a moisture content of flue-cured tobacco. Through this, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of crumbling of the cigar expanded cut tobacco, smoking taste, and irritation.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a content of nicotine in components in leaves of the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be 1.5% to 2.5%. When a smaller content of nicotine is included compared to flue-cured expanded cut tobacco, a smoking article with reduced irritation may be provided.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a content of total sugar in components in leaves of the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be 0.1% or less. When a smaller content of total sugar is included compared to flue-cured tobacco, the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be stored for a longer period of time.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cigar expanded cut tobacco may have filling power of 8.1% to 9%. This may be 2 to 3 times improved compared to that before expanding.
A cigarette weight of the smoking article may be reduced as the cigar expanded cut tobacco has high filling power. A cigarette weight may refer to a weight of cut tobacco wrapped by paper (cigarette paper) that wraps a cigarette, in the cigarette excluding a filter. The cigarette weight of the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be less than 530 mg/cig., for example, 460 mg/cig. to 500 mg/cig. Since a small cigarette weight is obtained compared to a typical smoking article, an economical smoking article may be manufactured using the cigar expanded cut tobacco.
A content of effective cut tobacco may refer to a distribution rate of fine cut tobacco and higher levels based on a quality standard of expanded cut tobacco. The quality of the expanded cut tobacco may be classified into a long cut tobacco, short cut tobacco, fine cut tobacco, shredded cut tobacco, and a fine powder according to a size (length) of the cut tobacco. For example, a size of the long cut tobacco may be 3.35 mm or more, a size of the short cut tobacco may be 1.4 mm or more and less than 3.35 mm, a size of the fine cut tobacco may be 0.85 mm or more and less than 1.4 mm, a size of the shredded cut tobacco may be 0.5 mm or more and less than 0.85 mm, and a size of the fine powder may be less than 0.5 mm.
When the content of the effective cut tobacco is small and the content of fine powder is great, crumbs generated from expanded leaf tobacco increase to cause sticking-out of the cut tobacco, which may cause a decrease of a yield and degradation of quality of a manufactured cigarette.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the content of effective cut tobacco in the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be 92% or more, and the content of fine powder may be 0.5% or less.
In the present disclosure, the sticking-out problem of the cut tobacco may not occur even when a small cigarette weight is obtained.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the content of the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be 40 wt % to 60 wt %, desirably 50 wt %, with respect to a total weight of the cigar leaf tobacco and the cigar expanded cut tobacco.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a weight ratio of the cigar leaf tobacco to the cigar expanded cut tobacco may be 4:6 to 6:4, desirably 5:5.
However, when the content of the cigar expanded cut tobacco exceeds the range described above, the burning may be performed too fast, cigarette ashes may blow excessively, and the satisfaction of smoking taste of smokers may be degraded.
In the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cigar leaf tobacco may include at least one of unifoliate cigar leaves or toasted cigar leaves.
The toasted cigar leaves may be obtained by adding a moisturizing agent, sugar, and a flavoring agent to unifoliate cigar leaves and toasting the cigar leaves at 90° C. to 130° C. By toasting the unifoliate cigar leaves, a mild cigar flavor may be achieved while masking negative properties of the cigar leaves.
At this time, the toasted cigar leaves may be added in an amount of 65 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight, desirably 100 parts by weight, with respect to 100 parts by weight of the cigar leaf tobacco. When the content of toasted cigar leaves added is less than the above range, satisfaction of the smoking taste may be degraded, burning may be performed fast, and cigarette ashes may blow. When the content of toasted cigar leaves added is more than the above range, the smoking taste and irritation may become intense, and the cigarette weight may increase.
The moisturizing agent added during the toasting process is a material that helps to maintain a desirable level of moisture in a tobacco medium. When the moisturizing agent is added, the moisture may be maintained during the process and a processing capability may be improved. The moisturizing agent may include, for example, glycerin, propylene glycol, or the like, but is not limited thereto. The moisture content of the unifoliate cigar leaves input into a toasting machine may be 28% to 37%, and the moisture content of finally toasted cigar leaves may be 12% to 13%, but the contents thereof are not limited to the above ranges.
Sugar added during the toasting process may have a function of suppressing smoking taste and off-flavor, reducing irritation, and masking a bitter taste with a substance with a sweet taste. Examples of a sugar component may include sucrose, invert sugar, honey, glucose, fructose, etc., but are not limited to the examples.
The flavoring agent added during the toasting process may be an agent that imparts a taste and/or scent to an aerosol generated from a tobacco medium. For example, the flavoring agent may include sucrose, sugar, molasses, syrup, isomerized sugar, invert syrup, cocoa, menthol, coffee, cinnamon, etc., but is not limited thereto.
A total content of tar and nicotine in a smoke component of the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be 3.5 mg/cig. to 7.5 mg/cig. The total content of tar and nicotine may be desirably 3.5 mg/cig. to 4.5 mg/cig., and more desirably 3.58 mg/cig. When a smaller content of tar and nicotine is obtained compared to a typical smoking article, a smoking article with reduced irritation may be provided.
The smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a cigar, a cigarillo, a cigarette, and the like, and the cigarette may include a combustible cigarette and a non-combustible cigarette. However, embodiments are not limited to the above examples.
The smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a printed cigar wrapper.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of manufacturing a smoking article including step S1 of expanding cigar leaf tobacco to manufacture a cigar expanded cut tobacco, step S2 of blending leaves of the cigar expanded cut tobacco and the cigar leaf tobacco, and step S3 of wrapping the cigar expanded cut tobacco and the cigar leaf tobacco with a printed cigar wrapper, wherein an expansion temperature in step S1 is 180° C. to 350° C.
In step S1, the cigar leaf tobacco may be expanded to manufacture the cigar expanded cut tobacco. This step may be carried out in the following order: immersing the cigar leaf tobacco in water, cutting it, and then expanding it. The cigar leaf tobacco having thinner mesophyll than the flue-cured tobacco may be expanded at a lower temperature than the flue-cured tobacco. An expansion moisture may be 14% to 16%, and an expansion temperature may be 180° C. to 350° C., desirably 280° C. to 320° C., and most desirably 300° C. However, when the expansion temperature is lower than the above range, the cigar leaf tobacco may not be expanded. On the other hand, when the expansion temperature is higher than the above range, crumbling may occur, which may reduce filling power and the expansion yield, and cause energy and cost losses.
In step S2, the cigar expanded cut tobacco and the cigar leaf tobacco may be blended. At this time, the cigar expanded cut tobacco and the cigar leaf tobacco may be blended in the amounts described above. The cigar leaf tobacco may include at least one of unifoliate cigar leaves or toasted cigar leaves, and the blending amount may be the same as described above.
In step S3, the blended cigar expanded cut tobacco and the cigar leaf tobacco may be wrapped with the printed cigar wrapper.
The method of manufacturing the smoking article according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include manufacturing the cigar leaf tobacco before step S2, and the manufacturing of the cigar leaf tobacco may include preparing the cigar leaf tobacco, and manufacturing toasted cigar leaves.
At this time, the manufacturing of the toasted cigar leaves may include adding at least one selected from a group consisting of a moisturizing agent, sugar, and a flavoring agent to unifoliate cigar leaves, and toasting the unifoliate cigar leaves at 90° C. to 130° C.
Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to examples, however, the present disclosure is not limited to the following examples.
1. Manufacture of cigar expanded cut tobacco
Cuban cigar leaves were expanded at the expansion temperature of 300° C. to manufacture cigar expanded cut tobacco.
Flue-cured tobacco was expanded at the expansion temperature of 360° C. to 380° C. to manufacture flue-cured expanded cut tobacco.
Unexpanded Cuban cigar leaves were prepared.
2. Evaluation of physical properties of cigar expanded cut tobacco
(1) Evaluation of moisture content and filling power
The moisture content and the filling power of Manufacturing Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 were examined twice. The results are shown in Table 1 below.
Manufacturing Example 1 showed a result in which the moisture content is higher by 2% or more and the filing power is improved by 10% or more, compared to Comparative Example 1.
(2) Examination of components in leaves
The components in leaves of Manufacturing Example 1 and Comparative Example 1were examined, and the results are shown in Table 2 below.
Manufacturing Example 1 showed a result in which about 18.9 times less sugar is contained compared to Comparative Example 1. As a result, it was confirmed that the storage may be performed for a longer period of time in Manufacturing Example 1 compared to Comparative Example 1.
(3) Examination of content of effective cut tobacco
A content of effective cut tobacco in Manufacturing Example 1 and Comparative
Example 1 was examined, and the results are shown in Table 3 below. The quality of expanded cut tobacco was classified as follows according to the size (length) of the cut tobacco.
Long cut tobacco: The size of cut tobacco is 3.35 mm or more.
Short cut tobacco: The size of the cut tobacco is 1.4 mm or more and less than 3.35 mm.
Fine cut tobacco: The size of the cut tobacco is 0.85 mm or more and less than 1.4 mm.
Shredded cut tobacco: The size of the cut tobacco is 0.5 mm or more and less than 0.85 mm.
Fine powder: The size of the cut tobacco is less than 0.5 mm.
Manufacturing Example 1 showed the content of the effective cut tobacco similar to that of Comparative Example 1.
Manufacturing Example 1 showed a result in which the content of fine powder was reduced compared to Comparative Example 1
(4) Evaluation of cigarette weight and stick out
The cigarette weight and the sticking-out of Manufacturing Examples 1 and 2, and Comparative Example 1 were evaluated. The cigarette weight and the sticking-out were evaluated by putting the same number of cigarettes in a machine, rotating the cigarettes 270times at 90 rpm, and measuring a weight of the loss.
The cigarette weight of Comparative Example 1 was at least 530 mg/cig. On the other hand, in a case of Manufacturing Examples 1 and 2, as the filling power was improved, the cigarette weight was reduced to 480 mg/cig.
In addition, in general, there was a problem that the sticking-out often occurs when the cigarette weight was small, however, in Manufacturing Examples 1 and 2, there was no problem of sticking-out even when a smaller amount thereof is added compared to Comparative Example 1.
The combustibility of Manufacturing Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 was evaluated. The combustibility was evaluated by igniting 1 cm from one end of a cigarette at a temperature of 22±2° C. and humidity of 60±5%, and measuring time taken for burning to a part of 3 cm from the one end of the cigarette, and the results are shown in Table 4 below.
Manufacturing Example 1 showed improved combustibility compared to Comparative Example 1.
3. Manufacture of smoking article including cigar expanded cut tobacco
The cigar expanded cut tobacco of Manufacturing Example 1, toasted cigar leaves, and unifoliate cigar leaves were blended to manufacture a smoking article.
Toast cigar leaves and the cigar expanded cut tobacco of Manufacturing Example 1were blended in amounts of 50 wt % and 50 wt %, respectively, to manufacture a smoking article. At this time, the toasted cigar leaves were prepared by adding a moisturizing agent, sugar, and a flavoring agent to Cuban cigar leaves and toasting the cigar leaves at 100° C. to 130° C.
A smoking article was manufactured in the same manner as in Manufacturing Example 2 except that cigar leaf tobacco is further included, and the cigar leaf tobacco, the toasted cigar leaves, and the cigar expanded cut tobacco of Manufacturing Example 1 were blended in amounts of 10 wt %, 40 wt %, and 50 wt %, respectively.
A smoking article was manufactured in the same manner as in Manufacturing Example 2 except that cigar leaf tobacco is further included, and the cigar leaf tobacco, the toasted cigar leaves, and the cigar expanded cut tobacco of Manufacturing Example 1 were blended in amounts of 20 wt %, 40 wt %, and 40 wt %, respectively.
A smoking article including only the cigar expanded cut tobacco of Manufacturing Example 1 was manufactured without blending with the leaf tobacco.
4. Evaluation of components and taste of smoking article
(1) Composition of smoking article
The following components and contents (%) included in Manufacturing Examples 2 to 5 were examined, and the results are shown in Table 5 below.
In a case of Manufacturing Examples 2 to 4, the ratio of total sugar/total nitrogen was 5 higher than that of Manufacturing Example 5, and in particular, Manufacturing Example 2 had a highest ratio of total sugar/total nitrogen.
(2) Evaluation of irritation and taste
In order to evaluate the irritation and the taste of cigar expanded cut tobacco, a sensory evaluation was performed using smoking articles to which Manufacturing Example 1 and Comparative Example 2 were applied. The sensory evaluation was performed with 11 evaluation panel members. The results of the sensory evaluation are shown in
Meanwhile, in order to evaluate the taste according to a mixing ratio of the cigar leaf tobacco (the unifoliate cigar leaves and the toasted cigar leaves) and the cigar expanded cut tobacco, the sensory evaluation was performed using Manufacturing Examples 2 to 5. As a result, Manufacturing Examples 2 to 4 showed a milder tobacco taste compared to Manufacturing Example 5. In other words, it was confirmed that the taste of tobacco tended to become milder as the total sugar/total nitrogen ratio increased.
(3) Analysis of smoke components
The smoke components of Manufacturing Examples 2 and 4 were analyzed, and the results thereof are shown in Table 6 below (unit: mg/cig.).
Total contents of nicotine and tar in Manufacturing Examples 2 and 4 were 3.58 mg/cig. and 4.22 mg/cig., respectively. On the other hand, as a result of the analysis of the smoke components of the smoking article manufactured using Comparative Example 1, a total content of tar and nicotine was 8.81 mg/cig. (tar: 8.1 mg/cig., nicotine: 0.71 mg/cig.). That is, Manufacturing Examples 2 and 4 showed the results in which the contents of nicotine and tar in the smoke components were significantly reduced.
In addition, Manufacturing Example 2 showed a result in which the contents of nicotine and tar were lower than Manufacturing Example 4. This is interpreted to be because, in Manufacturing Example 2, the content of cigar expanded cut tobacco is larger than that in Manufacturing Example 4, and the components of the cigar leaf tobacco escape during the expanding.
From the above experimental example, it is expected that the smoking article including the cigar expanded cut tobacco described in the claims provides low irritation and mild taste while maintaining cigar odor, and sticking-out does not occur while reducing the cigar weight, excellent combustibility is obtained, and long-term storage and manufacturing costs reduction are possible.
While the embodiments are described with reference to drawings, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various alterations and modifications in form and details may be made in these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order, and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner, and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents.
Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2023-0064036 | May 2023 | KR | national |
