Cation content during paper-making tobacco reconstitution processes

In order to investigate the effects of main production processes on selected cation contents in paper-making reconstructed tobacco, sample pretreatment conditions for the simultaneous determination of Na⁺, NH₄⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ ions with ion chromatography were optimized. The contents of the five cations in raw materials and paper-making reconstituted tobacco were determined during the production processes. The results showed that: 1) Optimized sample pretreatment conditions were: using 0.05 mol/L hydrogen chloride to extract sample at the ratio of 1:500 under ultrasonic condition for 30 minutes. 2) The content of the total cation in the materials was ranked as: stem powder > tobacco powder >> external fiber. The major cations in stem powder and tobacco powder were K⁺ and Ca²⁺, those in external fiber were K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Na⁺. 3) Cations were eliminated during the stem washing and dipping process with the reduction rate of 73.1% (Na⁺), 61.1% (K⁺), 50.5% (Mg²⁺), 50.4% (NH₄⁺), 20.7% (Ca²⁺). 4) After coating process, the content of Ca²⁺ reduced by 19.4%, while the other cations slightly increased in the base-sheet. 5) During the subsequent coating processes, the contents of cations were kept steady within 3.0% variation.