469 



17 



4,836,224 



18 



additive. The quantity of w«ter of the waier/idditive 

 mixttire is adjusted to attain a (inal cut filler moisture 

 content of about 1 5 percent 



Each of the four lots are leparately placed in sealed 

 plastic bags and stored at 70" F. for 2 days. Then, the 

 four lots are each mixed with about 2,000 g on a dry 

 weight basis, of a cut filler mixture of about 3S parts 

 volume expanded Burley tobacco having a nicotine 

 content of about 4 percent, and about 65 parts volume 

 expanded due-cured tobacco having a nicotine content 

 of about 4 percent The volume expanded cut filler 

 mixture Is added to each lot using a mixing drum in 

 order to provide a well mixed blend having a moisture 

 content of between about 12 percent and about 13 perc- 

 net 



The resulting blend provided from the first lot of 

 filler material has about 3 percent of the levulinic acid 

 applied thereto (based on the filler dry weight) and is 

 designated as Sample No. 8. The resulting blend pro- 

 vided from the second lot of filler material has about 7 

 percent of the levulinic acid applied thereto (based on 

 the filler dry weight) and is designated as Sample No. 9. 

 The resulting blend provided from the third lot of filler 

 material has about 10 percent of the levulinic add ap- 

 plied thereto (based on the filler dry weight) and is 

 designated as Sample No. 10. The resulting blend pro- 

 vided from the fourth lot of filler material is not treated 

 with the levulinic acid additive, is employed for com- 

 parison purposes, and is designated as Sample No. C-4. 



The various cigarettes are smoked under FTC condi- 

 tions. Data concerning (i) the nicotine content of each 

 blend. (iO FTC "tar," FTC nicotine and FTC carbon 

 monoxide, (iii) the "tar"/nicotine ratio, (iv) puff count 

 and (v) pH of the mainstream aerosol for each sample, 

 are presented in Table III. 



while the control sample is very harsh. The mildness of 

 Sample Nos. 8 and 9 is considered comparable. The 

 cigarettes of the invention yield good tobacco taste, 

 strength and smoking satisfaction. The control sample is 

 5 very strong, and the overpowering sensation provided 

 thereby is not satisfying. 



EXAMPLE 4 



Cigarettes incorporating varying amounts of the lev- 



10 ulinic acid are provided using the following procedure. 

 Cigarettes having lengths of about 84 mm and cir- 

 cumferences of about 24.85 mm have tobacco rod 

 lengths of 57 mm and filter element lengths of 27 mm. 

 The tobacco rod includes a charge of tobacco cut filler 



15 weighing about 0.82 g contained in a circumscribing 

 cigarette paper wrap which is sold commercially as 856 

 Cigarette Paper by Ecusta Corp. The filter element is 

 manufactured using conventional cigarette filter mak- 

 ing technology from cellulose acetate tow (2.7 denier 



20 per filament, 43,000 total denier) and circumscribing air 

 permeable paper plug wrap having a CORESTA poros- 

 ity of about 26,000 cm/min. The tobacco rod and filter 

 element are aligned in an abutting, end-to-end relation- 

 ship and secured together using essentially air imperme- 



25 able tipping paper. The tipping paper is adhesively se- 

 cured to the filter element and the adjacent portion of 

 the tobacco rod. The tipping material circumscribes the 

 length of the filter element and about 4 mm of the length 

 of the tobacco rod. Cigarettes so described are manu- 



}0 factured using a Pilot Cigarette Maker from Hauni- 

 Werke Korber & Co. KG. A ring of laser perforations 

 extends around the periphery of the cigarette about 13 

 mm from the extreme mouthend thereof The perfora- 

 tions so provided yield cigarettes which are 50 percent 



33 air diluted. The cigarettes so manufactured are desig- 



*Ho( am ejcuB^ of llw l a > m io«. 



'-<See TiM< I, tooKsia 1-4, nji«j: a» iH . 



>Saaka pH k amiiiliiid aai( »>• lit* ■i<»n ■»«»"*«<! tf Iht Senstn|li n il rcfcnacc n^n TV praoud 



ikc f-'-''-'-* avcnfr of ptt-fidt n^iinHi aad awziBuii vsiuo obuowd for T p<rf& per cicxmtf- 



V^vcnfa liKikt pH h Ua -nadt pen- laotc pH (be Ite aainlnui waake o( 20 d(»tira u Mu immt t •»! 



Ro. Coi^, (ITTt). 



uid Ruilnivm pH vilye for each cigireiic are 

 dncribcd ky Harra a iL 12iid Ta» 0<e«i 



The dau in Table III indicate that the various ciga- 

 rettes having high nicotine content cut filler (i.e., ap- 

 proximately 3 percent total blend nicotine) exhibit com- 50 

 parable FTC "tar," nicotine and carbon monoxide de- 

 liveries, as well as comparable FTC "tar" to FTC nico- 

 tine ratios and puff counts. However, cigarettes of the 

 invendon (ue.. Sample Noa. 8-10 which contain the 

 levulinic acid additive) exhibit reduced mainstream by 55 

 puff and average smoke pH when compared to a con- 

 trol (le.. Sample Na C-4 which does not have the levu- 

 linic acid additive). In addition, the data indicate that 

 the smoke pH of cigarettes of the invention is reduced 

 significantly as the level of levulinic acid additive in- 60 

 creases. The reduction in the smoke pH of the samples 

 of the invention is indicative of a subsuntial increase in 

 the hydronium ion concentration of the tobacco smoke. 

 Such an increase in the hydronium ion concentration of 

 the mainstream smoke is snfficient to provide a change 65 

 in the organoleptic quality of the imoke. 



Organoleptic evaluation of the samples indicates that 

 the cigarettes of the invention are smooth smoking 



nated Samples Nos. 11, 12, 13 and C-5, corresponding to 

 the sample of filler material from which each cigarette 

 is manufactured. 



The filler material employed in providing the tobacco 

 rod is in the form of strands cut at about 32 cuts per 

 ihch. The initial filler material includes a blend of about 

 31 percent Burley tobacco having a nicotine content of 

 about 5 percent about 20 percent fiue-cured tobacco 

 having a nicotine content of about 3.5 percent about 31 

 percent reconstituted tobacco material having a nico- 

 tine content of about 0.5 percent and 18 percent of an 

 Oriental tobacco blend having a nicotine content of 

 about 0.9 percent. The blend has an aqueous casing of 

 glycerin and flavors applied thereto. 



Four lots of the cut filler blend, each lot weighing 

 3,120 g on a dry weight basis, are provided. The first lot 

 is treated with 40 g of the levulinic acid additive. The 

 second lot is treated with 120 g of the levulinic acid 

 additive. The third lot is treated with 200 g of the levu- 



