Pyrolytic Evaluation of Close-Grown Tobaccos

A pyrolytic method for evaluating the smoke properties of tobacco materials for their potential to produce biologically significant smoke phenols and PAH has been applied to close-grown tobacco, in comparison to conventionally grown tobacco. Analyses were performed on the lipids of tobacco samples to attempt correlations with amounts of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in pyrolyzates. Relative to a standard flue-cured tobacco, the close-grown tobacco samples contained lower nicotine, neophytadiene and hydrocarbon levels, and lower sterols, solanesol and fatty acid levels. Close-grown tobacco pyrolyzates contained equivalent PAH levels and higher levels of phenols. Based on the pyrolysis data, the close-grown tobaccos do not offer a more desirable smoking product than conventionally grown flue-cured tobaccos. However, the lower levels of nicotine and higher amounts of smoke phenols may possibly make the close-grown materials suitable for inclusion into low-nicotine tobacco sheet products.