초록 ▼

A process is provided for the selective removal of basic materials from plant products, in particular, for removing nicotine from tobacco without materially affecting the content of the other components of the tobacco. Tobacco is traversed with a solvent at high pressure and in a physical state whic

A process is provided for the selective removal of basic materials from plant products, in particular, for removing nicotine from tobacco without materially affecting the content of the other components of the tobacco. Tobacco is traversed with a solvent at high pressure and in a physical state which is either a liquid at a pressure of from about 500-300 atmospheres or a supercritical fluid wherein nicotine and the other components dissolve in the solvent. As the single means of removing substances from the solvent, the solvent is then passed through an acid-containing trap where the solvent is essentially freed of nicotine. The solvent, depleted of nicotine and enriched in the other components, is then recycled to the tobacco to reextract nicotine. In addition, the tobacco may be pretreated with a chemical base which does not substantially react with the tobacco components under ambient conditions and which are not necessarily affected by the process conditions but are nonetheless effective in increasing the amount of nicotine which can be extracted by the process of this invention. Pretreatment of the tobacco with a chemical base neutralizes nicotine salts and permits the extraction process to be carried out under milder conditions.

대표청구항 ▼

In a method for the selective extraction of nicotine from tobacco, preserving aroma-producing components, using normally gaseous solvents at high pressure, said method characterized in that basic components are among a plurality of substances extracted from tobacco by a solvent during one or more cy

In a method for the selective extraction of nicotine from tobacco, preserving aroma-producing components, using normally gaseous solvents at high pressure, said method characterized in that basic components are among a plurality of substances extracted from tobacco by a solvent during one or more cycles of an extraction process, said method further characterized in that the tobacco is extracted with the solvent at high pressure in the presence of at least 10% by weight of moisture, based on the weight of the tobacco, the solvent at high pressure being in a physical state which is either a liquid at a pressure of from 50 to 300 atmospheres or a supercritical fluid at a temperature from the critical temperature of the solvent to about 120°C. at a pressure of from about 70 to 1500 atmospheres, the improvement which comprises contacting the solvent with a non-volatile acid which is not soluble in the extraction solvent, while maintaining the solvent in the same physical state it was in prior to contact with the acid as the single means of removing substances from the solvent, which single means selectively removes nicotine from the solvent.