Research On The Transfer Behavior Of Typical Flavor Monomers In Moderate/Low-tar Cigarettes

Flavors play important role during the manufacturing process of cigarettes. They can endow cigarettes with special taste and cause the smoke to be softer and more exquisite. With flavors added in, the offensive odor of tobacco could be covered up and the diluted arome resulting from ventilate could be made up. In addition, flavors are able to harmonize and modify the fragrance of tobacco so as to form particular cigarette product, which will bring more physical satisfaction for cousumers. In recent years, development of low-tar cigarettes has become a trend in total tobacco industry. Hence, carrying out the researches on fragrance compensation for low-tar cigarettes is essential and meaningful, while adding flavors to cigarettes is the primary means to realize fragrance compensation. In consequence,7categories of flavors including esters, lactones, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, phenols and hetercyclics compounds were chosen for systematic researches in this paper, aiming to figure out their retention behavior in tobacco, immigration behavior to filter tip, transfer behavior to mainstream smoke and interception behavior by filter tip in moderate/low-tar cigarettes. This project will enrich the fundamental research database of flavors and guide the tobacco manufacturer to add flavors to moderate/low-tar cigarettes specifically. Further more, it has positive effects on mastering the appropriate dosage of flavors and evaluating the function of flavors applied to the cigarettes. Moreover, this research could provide some reference data for further comprehension on flavoring effect and choosing suitable flavors during the development procedure of low-tar cigarettes and promote the applied research on flavors in cigarettes to a new level.Solvent extraction-GC/MS technology is employed in this paper. Based on extracting solvent, extracting time and the ratio of material to the solvent, orthogonal experiment (L25(53)) was designed. The recovery ratios of flavors were investigated and the best scheme was obtained. According to the confirmed pretreatment method, the retention ratio in tobacco, the immigration ratio to filter tip, the transfer ratio to mainstream smoke and the interception ratio by filter tip of the7kinds of flavors were analyzed. The results indicated that:(1) For the pretreatment process, it would be best to utilize the ethanol-hexane (1:1, v/v) mixture as extracting solvent and the extracting time should be60min. In terms of tobacco, filter tip and Cambridge filter, the ratio of material to the solvent should be1:60,1:35and1:35. Gas chromatography condition:60m0.25mm i.d.0.25μm film thickness DB-1MS capillary. Helium (99.999%) was utilized as carrier gas at a constant flow of1.00mL/min. The column was operated in the split mode with a ratio of50:1. The volume of each injection was2μL. The temperatures of the injection port and the interface transfer line to the mass spectrometer were set at300℃and280℃, respectively. The temperature program started from50℃for1min, then programmed to90℃at2℃/min, following programmed to100℃at1℃/min for5min, after that raised to150℃at1℃/min, finally ramped to300℃at10℃/min and maintained at300℃for8minutes. Mass spectrum condition:The solvent delay time was set at6min. The full-scan mass spectra were acquired over a mass range of m/z29to300amu. The TIC and SIM chromatogram were obtained for the identification and quantification of the flavors, respectively.(2) In general, the retention ratio in tobacco and the immigration ratio to filter tip of flavors ranged from30%to60%and0to35%, respectively. They are not only related to the boiling point and molecular weight, but also concerned with other factors such as the chemical structure, molecular polarity of flavor compounds. With the exception of lactones, the retention ratio in tobacco of other flavors increased first and then decreased with the reduction of tar yields of cigarettes while the immigration ratio to filter tip showed irregular variation. In total, the retention amout of7kinds of flavors in the whole cigarette in this study increased first and then decreased with the reduction of tar yields of cigarettes. In other words, the flavors showed the best retention effect in1#cigarette.(3) On the whole, the transfer ratio to mainstream smoke and the interception ratio by filter tip of flavors ranged from0to25%and0to50%, respectively. They are not only related to the volatilization and the carry selectivity of aerosol, but may also associated with other factors, like the chemical structure, molecular polarity of flavor compounds, which may be responsible for that the transfer ratio to mainstream smoke and the interception ratio by filter tip of flavors present ruleless alteration with the decrease of tar yields of cigarettes. Comparing the transfer behavior of flavors in3types of cigarettes, in brief, the flavors exhibited the best transfer efficiency in the reference cigarette.