Potassium Organic Salts as Burn Additives in Cigarettes

Three potassium salts of organic acids, namely malate, citrate and tartrate, have been sprayed onto flue-cured blend tobacco and subsequently tested for their performance as burn additives in cigarettes. In one experiment where potassium malate was added to vary the final tobacco potassium from ca. 3.1% to 8.3% (wet weight), an almost linearly reduction in puff temperature was measured. This was accompanied by a gradual increase in the cigarette's pressure drop. In another set of experiments where the final tobacco potassium contents were increased to ca. 5.1%, the three potassium salts showed almost equal reduction in the mainstream nicotine-free-dry-particulate-matter (NFDPM) at 32-35%, nicotine at 25-32% and carbon monoxide at 24-35%. Puff number showed ca. 23% increase with malate, 13% with citrate and almost unchanged for tartrate. Evidence of melting and coating by potassium malate was discovered in cigarette ash by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This contributed to a noticeable change in ash morphology: small ash particles appeared to be coated and more tightly bonded together by the melt. This phenomenon was thought to be able to restrict the airflow during puffing, hence causing the measured increase in pressure drop, and the reductions in puff temperature, NFDPM, nicotine and carbon monoxide.