Composition Studies on Tobacco. XXlll: Pyrolytic and Structural Investigations on the Polyphenol-amino Acid Pigments of Leaf
Published Online: Jun 13, 2014
Page range: 422 - 429
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/cttr-2013-0136
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The complex polyphenolic pigments of Turkish tobacco have been pyrolyzed to determine their possible contribution to the formation of aromatic compounds, especially polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), of smoke. The dark brown pigments were initially obtained by a basic aqueous extraction of tobacco. Various hydrolytic procedures showed the presence of rutin, chlorogenic acid, and a series of amino acids; some information on the structure of these pigments is presented. The pyrolysis of the pigments was carried out at 850°C and the products were fractionated to reveal the presence of more than a dozen PAH. Addition of pigments to cigarettes gave an increase in the level of benzo[a]pyrene in the smoke. The possible role of the polyphenolic pigments as a source of PAH in smoke is discussed