Wow. That reaction rate graph took an hour or so to make sense of.
Ouch!
So, what is the "ln
k"? It is the natural logarithm of the
rate of change of the concentration of the indicated chemical, measured in parts per million per hour (ppm/hr). Whew!
The 3 chemicals (ignore specific names) are roughly identified as:
- "toasty"
- "caramel"
- "off-flavor" or "odd"
What does a log scale mean? First of all, it makes changes that are exponential appear as a straight line on a graph. Going from 1 to 2 on a log scale is the same as going from 10 to 100 on a normal (linear) scale. That means that going from 1 to 3 (like the "toasty" line) is really showing a rate increase from 10 to 1000.
If we accept the data...
Notice that the "caramel" and "toasty" aromas don't really get going until we're above 230°F (my red line). They do accumulate, though more slowly, between 212°F (boiling) and 221°F (pressure cooker). So yes, there may be some Maillard reaction products or even caramelization at Cavendish-making temperatures. But it's really slow, by at least an order of magnitude, compared to toasting or oven temps.
I don't know what the "off flavors" are coming from, and whether or not it has any relevance to tobacco.
Bob