Processing tobacco leaf stalks for use in cigarettes - by cutting up material with fibres separated from core and humidified before softening

摘要

The process enables the stalks of tobacco leaves to be used in cigarettes, in conjunction with the normal tobacco filling. The stalks are first cut up into smaller lengths and the fibrous parts are separated from the core. The fibrous parts are then crushed to flatten them and the resulting material is shredded in order to loosen the individual fibres. These separated fibres tend to slide over each other and are fixed in an irreversible manner by submersion in hot water, followed by treatment in a vacuum chamber to equalise the humidifying effect. The product is then finally shredded.