Process for isolating plant extract fractions
First Claim
1. A process for producing and isolating intermediate molecular weight fractions from plant extracts, which fractions are substantially non-volatile and stable under ambient temperature conditions and are useful as flavoring agents, comprising:
- (a) contacting plant matter with a solvent to produce a crude plant extract;
(b) concentrating said crude plant extract;
(c) subjecting said concentrated crude plant extract to a size exclusion process to provide intermediate molecular weight fractions having a molecular weight in the range from about 600 Daltons to about 100,000 Daltons, wherein said size exclusion process separates on the basis of a physical parameter to provide the intermediate molecular weight fractions; and
(d) isolating said intermediate molecular weight fractions by using a detection method to monitor changes in the distribution and intensity of the substances eluted in said size exclusion process.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Fractionated plant extracts, particularly essentially nicotine-free tobacco extracts, useful as tobacco flavorants and methods for preparing and using the same are described herein. These fractionated extracts are stable, non-volatile and relatively odorless under conditions of smoking article or smoking substitute article manufacture and storage, but when thermally provoked, the extracts deliver characteristic flavor to smoking articles or smoking substitute articles. The fractionated plant extracts may be prepared by contacting plant matter with a solvent to produce a crude plant extract; removing the solvent from this plant extract; and isolating a fraction of this extract that when thermally provoked provides the characteristic aroma and flavor of the plant by size exclusion chromatography and monitoring the fraction'"'"'s integrity by suitable detection means.
260 Citations
60 Claims
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1. A process for producing and isolating intermediate molecular weight fractions from plant extracts, which fractions are substantially non-volatile and stable under ambient temperature conditions and are useful as flavoring agents, comprising:
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(a) contacting plant matter with a solvent to produce a crude plant extract; (b) concentrating said crude plant extract; (c) subjecting said concentrated crude plant extract to a size exclusion process to provide intermediate molecular weight fractions having a molecular weight in the range from about 600 Daltons to about 100,000 Daltons, wherein said size exclusion process separates on the basis of a physical parameter to provide the intermediate molecular weight fractions; and (d) isolating said intermediate molecular weight fractions by using a detection method to monitor changes in the distribution and intensity of the substances eluted in said size exclusion process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 60)
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6. A process for producing and isolating intermediate molecular weight fractions from tobacco extracts, which fractions are stable and non-volatile under ambient temperature conditions and are useful as flavoring agents, comprising:
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(a) contacting tobacco with a solvent to produce a crude tobacco extract; (b) concentrating said crude tobacco extract; (c) subjecting said concentrated crude tobacco extract to a size exclusion process wherein said concentrated crude tobacco extract is fractionated into a series of fractionated tobacco extracts including said intermediate molecular weight fractions; (d) isolating said fractionated tobacco extracts into fractions including said intermediate molecular weight fractions by using a suitable detection method to detect when said intermediate molecular weight fractions have been eluted from said size exclusion process and to trigger a fraction collection means in order to collect said isolated intermediate molecular weight fractions as subfractions; (e) concentrating said intermediate molecular weight subfractions; and (f) optionally contacting said subfractions from step (d) which contain nicotine detectable by suitable nicotine detection means with an ion-exchange material to essentially remove the nicotine. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 15, 36, 37, 38, 39, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A process for producing and isolating intermediate molecular weight fractions from plant extracts, which fractions are stable and non-volatile under ambient temperature conditions and are useful as flavoring agents, comprising:
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(a) contacting plant matter with a solvent to produce a crude plant extract; (b) concentrating said crude plant extract; (c) subjecting said concentrated crude plant extract to a size exclusion process by fractionating said concentrated crude plant extract into a series of fractionated plant extracts, said extracts falling within a range of intermediate molecular weight fraction of equal to or greater than approximately 600 Daltons and equal to or less than approximately 100,000 Daltons; and (d) isolating said fractionated plant extracts into fractions including said intermediate molecular weight fractions by using a suitable detection method to detect when said intermediate molecular weight fractions have been eluted from said size exclusion process and to trigger a fraction collection means in order to collect said isolated intermediate molecular weight fractions.
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Specification