Aerosol-Generating Tobacco-Containing Composition Comprising Medium-Chain Triglyceride

Abstract

An aerosol-generating tobacco-containing composition, preferably provided in a form of a foam or mousse, and an aerosol-generating article including the composition, are provided. The composition includes particulate tobacco material and lipid, wherein the lipid is medium-chain triglyceride, and a ratio of the medium-chain triglyceride to the particulate tobacco material on a dry weight basis is between 1:3 and 1:5.

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating tobacco-containing composition provided in a form of a foam or a mousse, wherein the composition comprises particulate tobacco material and lipid, wherein the lipid is medium-chain triglyceride, a ratio of the medium-chain triglyceride to the particulate tobacco material on a dry weight basis is between 1:3 and 1:5.

2. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the particulate tobacco material has a particle size of less than 100 μm.

3. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the medium-chain triglycerides to the particulate tobacco material on the dry weight basis is 1:3.

4. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the lipid is derived from palm kernel oil or coconut oil.

5. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the lipid comprises caprylic acid (C8:0), capric acid (C10:0), and/or lauric acid (C12:0).

6. The composition according to claim 1, wherein over 50 wt. % of the lipid is MCT caprylic acid (C8:0) based on a total weight of the lipid.

7. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the composition further comprises maltodextrin acacia gum, silicon dioxide and/or sunflower lecithin.

8. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the composition further comprises any of a propellant, an aerosol-forming agent, a foam-stabilizing agent, and/or a foam-forming agent.

9. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the composition further comprises an aerosol-forming agent in a proportion of 10-80 wt.-%, preferably 30-70 wt. % of a weight of an aerosol-generating material.

10. A method of preparing an aerosol-generating tobacco-containing foam or mousse, comprising the steps of: a. mixing an aerosol-forming agent and a foam-forming agent under heating into a mixture; b. aerating the mixture with a gas or air for at least 5 minutes under room temperature; c. adding to the mixture a tobacco-containing ingredient and/or an inhalable agent; d. adding to the mixture a medium-chain triglyceride, wherein a ratio of the medium-chain triglyceride to the tobacco-containing ingredient on a dry weight basis is between 1:3 and 1:5; e. aerating the mixture with a gas or air for at least 5 minutes under room temperature; and f. adding a foam stabilizing agent.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein each step of aerating the mixture includes aerating the mixture with a heated gas or air of between 35° C. and 50° C. for at least 10 minutes.

12. An aerosol-generating article comprising the aerosol-generating tobacco-containing composition according to claim 1.

13. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the particulate tobacco material has a particle size of less than 50 μm.

14. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the particulate tobacco material has a particle size of between 40 μm and 90 μm.

15. The composition according to claim 1, wherein over 66 wt.-% of the lipid is MCT caprylic acid (C8:0) based on a total weight of the lipid.

16. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the composition further comprises an aerosol-forming agent in a proportion of 30-70 wt.-% of a weight of an aerosol-generating material.

17. The method according to claim 10, wherein the step of mixing includes mixing a solvent with the aerosol-forming agent and the foam-forming agent under heating into the mixture.

18. The method according to claim 10, further comprising aerating the mixture with a gas or air after the step of adding to the mixture the tobacco-containing ingredient and/or an inhalable agent.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0040] Present invention relates to an aerosol-generating a tobacco-containing composition, comprising a lipid in form a medium-chain triglyceride (MCTs) oil. The composition can be provided in many forms such as one or more sheets of homogenised tobacco material or be provided in form of a foam or a mousse or powder, wherein the ratios between the MCTs and the tobacco-containing material on a dry basis is between 1:3 and 1:5. It is emphasized herein that the present invention is not restricted in these two forms, other forms such as powder form, gel, or coating the aerosol-generating material of the present invention on a carrier would also be possible.

[0041] Due to the fact that MCT has a melting point around 20° C., the MCT as discussed in the present invention therefore always exists in a completely liquid form at room temperature (e.g. 22-24° C.). The homogenised tobacco material therefore includes the MCT oil in liquid form dispersed within a matrix (solid or semi-solid such as foam or gel) of the tobacco-containing material.

[0042] The MCTs used in the present invention is commercially available. For example it is obtained from the Sensory Effects Company (Product ID: Richmix 5025 IP(175755)), comprising a 52% fat MCT oil powdered creamer made from palm-derived, palm kernel and/or coconut based fatty acids. According to the product description, maltodextrin and acacia gum, silicon dioxide and sunflower lecithin are also comprised in said product. Said MCTs have a melting point significantly below 20° C., wherein the ratio of the MCT C6:C8:C10:C12 is approximately 1:20:10:1. In other words, the content of C6 and C12 in the MCTs used in the present invention is negligible.

[0043] To this end, it is reiterated that any commercially available MCTs would be suitable to be used in the present invention, as long as the commercially available products meet the criteria and being sold as medium-chain triglycerides oil.

[0044] The use of a medium-chain triglyceride oil having a melting point below 20° C. such that the oil is liquid at room temperature also provides advantages to the manufacture of the homogenised tobacco material. For example, since the MCT oil exists naturally as a liquid at the room temperature, compared to other lipids such as wax, MCT oil does not required to be heated and melted. The homogenised tobacco material which derived usually from a pulp does not need to be heated in order to retain the oil in liquid form. The manufacturing process can therefore be carried out without the need for external heating. This not only simplifies the manufacturing process but it also avoid the loss of volatile compounds from the tobacco-containing material during the external heating process. Moreover, the use of MCTs in the homogenised tobacco materials also solves the stickiness problem as typically found aerosol-generating article where lipids are being used in the manufacturing process. The stickiness characteristic of lipid prevents volatile compounds to be released efficiently compared to MCTs.

[0045] The inventors of the present invention have found out from the test results that when the ratios of MCT to tobacco material on a dry basis are between 1:3 and 1:5, MCT works best in extracting volatile compounds from the tobacco-containing material. It has been found out that in those samples, not only the side tastes and off odour which typically exist in lipid-containing samples (e.g. wax) is no longer noticeable, it also gives the strongest tobacco aroma and flavours to the consumers, as well as the highest nicotine delivery.

[0046] The diffusivity of volatile compounds, such as aerosol formers and nicotine, is greater in a liquid phase than in a solid phase. The liquid medium-chain triglyceride will therefore act to facilitate the transfer of volatile compounds within the particulate tobacco material to its surface. As such, the transfer of these volatile compounds from the granulated tobacco material to an aerosol may be enhanced in comparison with a homogenised tobacco material that does not contain the liquid medium-chain triglyceride oil within the specific claimed ratios. Interestingly, the inventors found out that when the ratios of MCT to tobacco material on a dry basis is outside of the claimed ranges of 1:3 and 1:5, the samples are immediately recognisable as less preferred choices. This is especially obvious when the samples contain a ratio of 1:10 or less of MCT to tobacco material on a dry basis, where these less preferred samples can be recognised immediately. It is therefore concluded that a certain minimum threshold of percentage of MCT to tobacco materials are needed in order to have the volatile compounds to be optimally extracted and be released as aerosol, as it allows for the formation of a good mixture of open pored foam and closed cell foam.

[0047] The medium chain triglyceride oil is preferably evenly distributed throughout the tobacco-containing material, which means that at room temperature there are no separately distinguishable regions of oil and plant material. Rather, the oil and particles are fully homogenised or granulated.

[0048] The use of a homogenised tobacco material having a medium-chain triglyceride oil incorporated into it, as described herein, may allow equivalent nicotine or aerosol yields at a lower heating temperature compared to the use of a homogenised tobacco material without a medium chain triglyceride oil as defined. In fact, it has been surprisingly found that the use of a particulated tobacco-containing material with a medium-chain triglyceride at a certain ratio as defined herein may provide a higher nicotine or aerosol yield at a lower heating temperature than is provided by the same material at a higher heating temperature. The potential use of a lower heating temperature may provide a number of benefits when the composition of the invention, as it is meant for, is used in aerosol-generating devices such as heat-not-burn for instance. For example, a lower temperature of operation may allow for longer periods of use of the aerosol-generating device without the need to recharge a battery. As a further example, a lower temperature of operation may allow for use of a smaller battery. As a further example, a lower temperature of operation may reduce the liberation of undesirable aerosol constituents from the homogenised tobacco material.

EXAMPLES 1

[0049] An aerosol-generating tobacco-containing composition according to the invention has been prepared from tobacco material mixed with MCT oil. The resulting composition forms an aerosol-generating material, which in this example is provided in powder form, each having different percentage/ratio of compositions and have been tested, using a method as described herein:

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Aerosol-generating material provided in powder form having different ratios of MCT to tobacco-containing material on a dry basis. Powder Powder Powder Powder Powder A B C D E Component wt.- % wt.- % wt.- % wt.- % wt.- % Tobacco 60 60 60 60 60 MCT oil 0 30 20 12 6 Glycerine 18.5 3.5 8.5 12.5 15.5 Propylene Glycol 18.5 3.5 8.5 12.5 15.5 Guar 2 2 2 2 2 Cellulose fibres 1 1 1 1 1

[0050] The MCT oil used for Powders B, C, D and E was Richmix 5025 IP (175755) which was obtained from Sensory Effects®, a subsidiary of Balchem Company. For each tobacco sample, the powder/particulated tobacco was formed into an aerosol-generating substrate, using conventional techniques. The aerosol-generating articles incorporating Powders B, C, D and E are provided according to the present invention, with medium-chain triglyceride oil in the tobacco-containing material. The aerosol-generating article incorporating Powder A, which does not include the medium-chain triglyceride oil, is a control sample for the purposes of comparison.

[0051] Examples of cellulose fibres could be for instance Cekol® 2000, whereas the guar could be for instance gellan gum food grade.

[0052] Each aerosol-generating article was subjected to the heating test defined above, at both 360° C. and 280° C. The nicotine level in the aerosol delivered from each aerosol-generating article were measured, with the results shown in Table 2 below.

[0053] The nicotine level was measured using the ISO method which is used to measure the tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (TNCO) contents in cigarettes and are determined using a smoking machine, which smokes a cigarette in accordance with an established method. In the EU this method is widely known as ISO method, as set out by the European Commission. It is mentioned herein that other methods such as Canadian intense method can also be used in the measurement.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Nicotine delivery efficiency under two different heating temperatures. Nicotine Nicotine Ratio of delivery at % delivery at % MCT:Tobacco 360° C. (mg) change 280° C. (mg) change .sup. 0 (Pow. A) 1.15 0.7 1:2 (Pow. B) 1.41 22.61% 0.91 30.00% 1:3 (Pow. C) 2.05 78.26% 1.31 87.14% 1:5 (Pow. D) 1.82 58.26% 1.22 74.29% 1:10 (Pow. E)  1.30 13.04% 0.89 27.14%

[0054] As can be seen from Table 2, an increase in the delivery of nicotine from the aerosol-generating tobacco-containing composition was observed in all of the aerosol-generating articles which has incorporated the medium-chain triglyceride in the tobacco-containing material, relative to the control sample (Powder A). Nevertheless, only the samples in Powders C and D show the most significant improvement in nicotine delivery. This proves that volatile compounds can efficiently be released when the optimal ratios of MCT to tobacco-containing material are being selected. Amongst these ratios, the ratio of 1:3 being the most promising candidate by showing 78% and 87% increment of nicotine delivery compared to the control sample (Powder A), when being heated under 360° C. and 280° C., respectively. Surprisingly, it was observed that a lower heating temperature (e.g. 280° C.) encourages the release of higher amount of nicotine in the aerosol as compared to those samples where the aerosol-generating substrates (tobacco-containing composition) are being heated at 360° C.

EXAMPLES 2

[0055] The same experiments were repeated on the aerosol-generating tobacco-containing composition of the present invention, whereby the aerosol-generating tobacco-containing compositions in this example are being provided in form of a foam or a mousse. The foam characteristic and its manufacturing is known in the art, for example as described in the patent document WO 2018/122375 A1, with the exception that the MCTs and its ratio to tobacco-containing material were used in the present invention.

[0056] Other than the fact that the aerosol-generating tobacco-containing composition is provided in form of a foam, all other parameters were similar to those as described in the Example 1.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Aerosol-generating material provided in form of a foam or a mousse having different ratios of MCT to tobacco-containing material on a dry basis. Foam M Foam N Foam O Foam P Foam Q Component wt.- % wt.- % wt.- % wt.- % wt.- % Tobacco 60 60 60 60 60 MCT oil 0 30 20 12 6 Glycerine 18.5 3.5 8.5 12.5 15.5 Propylene 18.5 3.5 8.5 12.5 15.5 Glycol Guar 2 2 2 2 2 Cellulose 1 1 1 1 1 fibres

[0057] Each aerosol-generating article was subjected to the heating test defined above, at both 360° C. and 280° C. The nicotine level in the aerosol delivered from each aerosol-generating article were measured, with the results shown below in Table 3.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Nicotine delivery efficiency under two different heating temperatures. Nicotine Nicotine Ratio of delivery at % delivery at % MCT:Tobacco 360° C. (mg) change 280° C. (mg) change  0 (Foam M) 1.40 0.90 1:2 (Foam N) 1.84 30.71% 1.21 34.44% 1:3 (Foam O) 2.75 96.43% 1.81 101.11% 1:5 (Foam P).sup.  2.52 80.00% 1.72 91.11% 1:10 (Foam Q)  1.88 34.26% 1.25 38.89%

[0058] As can be seen in the Table 4, when the aerosol-generating tobacco-containing compositions are provided in form of a foam or a mousse, the efficiency of nicotine delivery is observed to be improved significantly compared to the Example 1. In other words, aerosol-generating substrates in form of a foam would be a preferred option over aerosol-generating substrates in powder form when the higher release rate of volatile compounds such as nicotine is to be sought after.

[0059] Similar to the Example 1, it has been discovered that lower heating temperature i.e. 280° C. is more efficient in releasing volatile compounds compared to heating aerosol-generating material of the present invention at the higher temperature of 360° C. Moreover, the MCT to tobacco-containing material of 1:3 gave the highest nicotine delivery amount, followed by the ratio of 1:5.

[0060] These results demonstrated that the use of an aerosol-generating tobacco-containing material having a medium-chain triglyceride oil incorporated into it provide an increased nicotine or aerosol yield compared to a homogenised tobacco material having the same amount of tobacco but without a medium chain triglyceride oil as defined. This effect is furthermore significantly observed when the ratio of MCT to tobacco-containing material on a dry basis is between 1:3 and 1:5.