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;a - 



undesirably high level, can thus be seen to be a sienificant problem m the 

 tobacco an. The addition ot nicotine to tobacco in such a *av that it 

 remains inert and suble in the product and yet is released in a controlled 

 amount into the smoke aerosol when the tobacco is pyrolyzed. is a result 

 which is greatly desirable. 



The present invention provides a solution to this longstanding problem 

 and results m accurate control of the nicotme which is released in tobacco 

 smoke. By employing the nicotine-releasing agents and methods of the 

 present invention, it is possible to incorporate exact amounts of nicotine 

 in a tobacco composition, which will remain constant over extended 

 periods of time and which will ultimately yield a smoke containing a 

 controlled amount of nicotine. 



With regard to the above-discussed problems of maintaining the nicotine 

 content of tobacco products to the proper level to provide the desired 

 qualities in tobacco smoke, previous effons have been made to add 

 nicotine to tobacco products wherein the nicotine level in the tobacco was 

 undesirably low. 



Such effons have included adding nicotine per se to the tobacco. 

 However, it has not been found feasible to add nicotine per se to tobacco 

 products. For one thing, the nicotine can be absorbed through mtact skin 

 and is, thus, difficult and hazardous to handle in processing operations. 

 In addition, free nicotine is a very volatile material and wiB volatilize 

 readily at room conditions. Therefore, the addition of nicotine mto a 

 tobacco product as the free material could readily result in a substantial 

 loss of the nicotine during storage of the tobacco product. Even though 

 the mcotme content of tobacco products could, by the addition of nicotine 

 content of tobacco products could, by the addition of nicotine under 

 conditions involving considerable effon, be made initially uniform, the 

 volatization losses attending storage of the product would not provide 

 smoke containmg a uniform amount of nicotine. 



A 1985 U.S. patent (#4,557,280) filed by Brown and Williamson concermng the 



process for reduction of nitrate and nicotine content of tobacco by microbial 



treatment states: 



The present invention relates to a process of reducing the nitrate and 

 nicotine contents of tobacco by treating the tobacco with a culture of a 

 microorganism. More specifically, the invention relates to a process for 

 treating tobacco to reduce the nitrate and nicotine contents thereof, 

 which, when incorporated into a tobacco smoking product, yields smoke 

 with reduced nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and nicotine deliveries 

 without loss of desirable flavor and taste properties or other smoking 

 qualities. 



Using the culture of the present invention, it is practical to treat tobacco 

 lamina or stem and remove nitrate and nicotine simultaneously or to 

 make a water extract of either material and remove nitrate and nicotine 

 and then reapply treated extract to the original tobacco materials or a 

 reconstituted tobacco. The capability of treating the extract and then 

 reapplying it to the original tobacco avoids the solubles weight loss 



