Effects of cigar wrapper producing area on combustion characteristics of machine-made cigarillos with reconstituted tobacco binders

To investigate the effects of cigar wrapper on the combustion characteristics of machine-made cigarillos with reconstituted tobacco binders, five cigar wrappers from typical producing areas were selected, and machine-made cigarillo samples were prepared based on a unified bunch. By changing the puffing intervals and dynamic draw resistance, the extinguish tendency of cigarillos was evaluated. Images of the combustion process of cigarillos were collected and processed to obtain the combustion rate of the cigar wrappers and the ash characteristics of the cigarillos. The combustion matching degrees of the wrappers and bunch were assessed by synchronously measuring the temperature of the combustion cone in the radial center of the cigarillos. By analyzing the chemical composition and combustion/pyrolysis characteristics of the cigar wrappers, the relationships between characteristics of wrapper tobacco leaves from different producing areas and the combustion properties of cigarillos were investigated. The results showed that cigar wrappers had a significant effect on the combustion characteristics of the machine-made cigarillos. 1) The cigarillos with wrapper A displayed poor combustion characteristics with an inward-burning pattern leading to easy extinguishing and poor ash integrity. The cigarillos with wrapper E also had an inward-burning pattern. The cigarillos wrapped with wrapper B, C and D showed better combustion characteristics and ash integrity. 2) The combustion rates of both the wrappers and bunch were related to the wrapper variety, and the closer the matching degree (ratio) between the two was to 1.00, the better the combustibility of cigarillos. 3) The potassium-chlorine ratio and the average combustion rate ( \barv ) reflected the differences in combustion characteristics of cigar wrappers, providing clear directions for cigar wrapper selection. This study provides technical support for wrapper selection, product development and design, and quality improvement of domestic cigarillos.