Effect of Adding Sugar to Burley Tobacco on the Emission of Aldehydes in Mainstream Tobacco Smoke

Objectives: Sugars in tobacco products enhance the taste and smoke characteristics of the blend. Sugars are often added to processed tobacco, particularly air-cured Burley tobacco leaves that contain virtually no sugars. The most commonly used sugars were systematically added to Burley tobacco to study the effect on aldehyde emissions in mainstream smoke. Methods: Two levels of sucrose, glucose, and fructose were added to Burley tobacco. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, acrolein, crotonaldehyde, propionaldehyde, and butanal in mainstream smoke were sampled on Carboxen 572 cartridges and determined by HPLC-DAD. Results: The addition of sugars to Burley tobacco resulted in an increase of the aldehydes acetaldehyde, acrolein, crotonaldehyde, propionaldehyde, and butanal in the mainstream tobacco smoke. This increase is specific, as much lower increases in tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide levels were observed. The observed aldehyde level increases ranged from 5% to 40%. The increase was higher after the addition of fructose compared to sucrose and glucose. Conclusions: Sugars added to Burley tobacco increase the emissions of aldehydes, an important class of toxicants in tobacco smoke. Limiting sugars levels in processed tobacco may be an effective approach in tobacco product regulation to reduce the attractiveness of smoking, and the toxicants levels in cigarette smoke.