If we can come up with a cost and time effective way of doing it I'd love to help. I'll have to run it past the misses, and make sure it doesn't interfere with college/work but if it all comes together that'd be awesome.
So to make a long story short, the nitrites in the tobacco aren't the same as found on other things? Which is why they are called tobacco specific I'll bet , I guess I should have realized that before I typed all that out
I believe when nitrates are mixed with oxygen they convert and release the nitrites
I don't see the attachment. Did I do something wrong (again?) -- JHey guys check this out. It's a patent for processing tobacco before it cures to reduce bacteria levels which are produces or precursor produces of nitrosamines. I read a good portion of it and concluded that using a wash of water and sodium bicarbonate(baking soda) would not only reduce the bacterial and fungal levels but also allows tobacco to be air-cured in 25 - 50 percent less time. I have never grown or cured tobacco and I always thought that the bacteria were needed to help transform the nasties in the tobacco into goodies, if it is possible to cure tobacco into a quality product without the bacteria then this method could come in handy. Also the patent states that bacteria on the tobacco leaves cease activity and die at around 50C or 122F and that heating the bicarbonate wash to 55C or 131F would help in killing a large portion of the bacteria while causing minimal damage to the leaf. To make the info easier to find scroll to page 6 of the patent pdf and look under the heading alkaline lavage. There is another antibacterial lavage that uses 70% alcohol but to me it would be easier to use baking soda.
Check out the following chart found on page 7 of the patent. View attachment 2970
Thanks Knucks. I finally got it. The "this" wasn't blue on my screen. Interesting reading . -- JClick the blue "this" link in his first sentence.
How did it smoke and taste, after prolonged washing?
Bob
The one thing I did not understand was that the author said that the bacteria die at about 50 degrees Celsius. I believe that during the flue curing process, temperatures are much higher - so wouldn't this kill off the bacteria without applying the bicarbonate solution?
essentially speaking the file reads that TSNA production is boosted by oxides of nitrogen released during the combustion of a fuel source for flue curing.