Whitened tobacco composition
A method of preparing a whitened tobacco material is provided, the method including the steps of (i) extracting a tobacco material with an aqueous solution to give a tobacco pulp and a tobacco extract; (ii) treating the tobacco pulp with at least one of a caustic reagent and an oxidizing agent for a time and at a temperature sufficient to lighten the color of the tobacco pulp to give a whitened tobacco pulp; (iii) clarifying the tobacco extract to remove higher molecular weight components; and (iv) combining the whitened tobacco pulp with a clarified tobacco extract to form a whitened tobacco material. The whitened tobacco material can be isolated and incorporated into a smokeless tobacco product. The invention also provides a smokeless tobacco product incorporating a whitened tobacco material. The smokeless tobacco product may be a snus-type formulation contained within a sealed pouch.
1 . A method of preparing a whitened tobacco material for use in a product configured for insertion into the mouth of a user, comprising:
(i) extracting a tobacco material with an aqueous solution to give a tobacco pulp and a tobacco extract;
(ii) treating the tobacco pulp with at least one of a caustic reagent and an oxidizing agent for a time and at a temperature sufficient to lighten the color of the tobacco pulp to give a whitened tobacco pulp; and
(iii) incorporating the whitened tobacco pulp into a product configured for insertion into the mouth of a user, wherein the product comprises a moisture content of about 20 weight percent to about 55 weight percent,
wherein the product is a smokeless tobacco product comprising a water-permeable pouch containing the whitened tobacco pulp.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the caustic reagent is sodium hydroxide.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing agent is hydrogen peroxide.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the molar ratio of the amount of caustic reagent to oxidizing agent is from about 1:1 to about 1:100.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting the tobacco material to be extracted in step (i) by visually inspecting a group of tobacco materials and selecting the tobacco material that is relatively light in color as compared with the remainder of the tobacco materials in the group.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the treating step further comprises heating the mixture of tobacco pulp, caustic reagent, and oxidizing agent at a temperature sufficient to increase the rate of whitening.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of filtering the tobacco extract to give a translucent tobacco extract, wherein said filtering comprises passing the tobacco extract through a membrane filter having a cutoff molecular weight of 1000 Da.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of filtering the tobacco extract to give a translucent tobacco extract, wherein said filtering comprises passing the tobacco extract through a series of one or more ultrafiltration membranes having cutoff molecular weights of from about 10,000 Da to about 1,000,000 Da.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising combining the whitened tobacco pulp with the tobacco extract, wherein the ratio of the whitened tobacco pulp to the tobacco extract is about 1:1 to about 90:1.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tobacco extract is characterized by a low tobacco-specific nitrosamine content of about 150 ng/g or less and/or by a low benzo[a]pyrene content of about 1 ng/g tobacco extract or less.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tobacco extract does not comprise any components having a molecular weight greater than about 500 Da.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the whitened tobacco pulp and the tobacco extract are present in a weight ratio of about 1:1 to about 10:1.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the product comprises the tobacco extract in an amount from about 20% to about 40% by weight, based on the total dry weight of the product.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the whitened tobacco pulp comprises a pulp of tobacco lamina, or a tobacco lamina and stem mixture.
15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding one or more additional components to the whitened tobacco pulp prior to incorporating the whitened tobacco pulp into the product configured for insertion into the mouth of a user, wherein the one or more additional components are selected from the group consisting of flavorants, fillers, binders, pH adjusters, buffering agents, colorants, disintegration aids, antioxidants, humectants, and preservatives.
16 . A product configured for insertion into the mouth of a user, prepared according to the method of claim 1 .