Preparation of Tobacco Essential Oil Microcapsule and Its Application in Cigarette Paper

XUE Yun; WU Yihong; LIU Yuanshang; HUANG Jiale; ZHOU Pengfei; BAI Jiafeng; JIA Xuewei; DAI Yuxiang; XU Chunping

doi:10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2025.02.018

Abstract：In order to explore the effect of tobacco essential oil microcapsules on cigarette paper flavoring,firstly,tobacco essential oil was prepared by water distillation.Then complex coacervation method was employed to prepare tobacco essential oil microcapsules with tobacco essential oil as the core material,chitosan as the wall material,and span-80 as the emulsifier,and the embedding yield was determined.Subsequently,scanning electron microscopy,laser particle size analyzer and infrared spectrum analyzer were used to characterize the physical and chemical properties of microcapsules.Finally,the microcapsules were used to flavor cigarette paper,and the sensory evaluation and smoke composition analysis of the flavored cigarettes were carried out.The results showed that the average particle size of tobacco essential oil microcapsules prepared with chitosan as the wall material and tobacco essential oil as the core material was 221.1 nm,and the embedding yield was 75.3%.The prepared tobacco essential oil microcapsules showed smooth and plump spherical surface through scanning electron microscope.The infrared spectrum analysis of tobacco essential oil,chitosan and tobacco essential oil microcapsules showed that tobacco essential oil was embedded in chitosan by comparing their characteristic absorption peaks.The results of sensory evaluation showed that the flavored cigarettes were significantly improved.When the tobacco essential oil microcapsules and tobacco essential oil were compounded at a volume ratio of 1∶2,the aroma effect was more significant,and the sensory evaluation score could reach 86.6.Compared with the control(ie.cigarettes without flavoring),the contents of nicotine,alcohols,aldehydes,acids,esters and ketones in the smoke components of the cigarettes with compound flavors were increased,and the aroma,taste and strength of cigarettes were improved.