Treatment of tobacco material

Abstract

A method is provided for treating a tobacco material, comprising treating the tobacco material by steam hydrolysis. Also provided is a tobacco material which has been treated by such a method, or a derivative thereof, and a smoking article which comprises a tobacco material treated by such a method.

1 . A method for treating a tobacco material, the method comprising: treating a tobacco material, the treating including steam hydrolysis, so that a polyphenol content and/or a protein content of the treated tobacco material is reduced compared to untreated tobacco material. 
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein, when the treating results in a reduction in the polyphenol content of the tobacco material compared to untreated tobacco material, the treating does not substantially reduce an amount of nicotine in the tobacco material. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , the method further comprising: suspending the tobacco material in an aqueous medium and heating the aqueous medium to generate steam for the steam hydrolysis. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein a ratio of the aqueous medium to the tobacco material is at least 1:1 by weight. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 3 , the method comprises further comprising ohmic heating. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the aqueous medium is an aqueous solution including sufficient ions to provide electrical conductivity for ohmic heating. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , the treating comprising elevating a pressure such that the steam hydrolysis is carried out under elevated pressure. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , the method further comprising releasing the pressure after a period of time at a maximum pressure. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 3 , the method further comprising separating the treated tobacco material from the aqueous medium. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , the method further comprising at least one of: treating the tobacco material with one or more enzymes; treating the tobacco material with one or more surfactants; treating the tobacco material with one or more adsorbents; and/or treating the tobacco material with one or more non aqueous liquids. 
     
     
         11 . A tobacco material that has been treated by the method according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         12 . A smoking article, comprising: a tobacco material according to  claim 11 . 
     
     
         13 . A method, comprising: receiving a tobacco material; and removing one or more polyphenols from the tobacco material using steam hydrolysis. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 4 , the method further comprising separating the treated tobacco material from the aqueous medium. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 5 , the method further comprising separating the treated tobacco material from the aqueous medium. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 3 , the method further comprising: elevating a pressure such that the steam hydrolysis is carried out under elevated pressure; and separating the treated tobacco material from the aqueous medium.