The fidelity of tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes is influenced by multiple factors such as technology, raw materials, and processes. Currently, the industry has made certain progress in simulating the taste of traditional tobacco, but there are still obvious limitations. The following is the specific analysis:
E-cigarettes simulate the taste of traditional tobacco by heating e-liquid to generate aerosols, and the taste of traditional tobacco stems from the interaction of various chemical substances during the combustion process. To achieve high fidelity in e-cigarettes, meticulous adjustments need to be made in aspects such as the composition of e-liquid and atomization technology.
In terms of the components of e-liquid, propylene glycol is used to dissolve nicotine and flavorings. Glycerol mimics smoke and serves as the main source of smoke. Flavorings are used for flavoring to simulate the taste of traditional tobacco. Nicotine, or nicotine, is a key component. Traditional tobacco contains higher fatty acid flavoring substances such as chlorogenic acid and rutin. E-cigarette e-liquid should contain these components as much as possible to restore the taste characteristics of traditional tobacco. However, the extraction of tobacre-specific flavors is restricted by the acquisition of raw materials. For instance, tobacco cultivation in China is under a planned economy, and enterprises lacking a tobacco background find it difficult to obtain key flavor extraction sources. This restricts the ability of e-liquid to restore the traditional flavor of tobacco.
The influence of atomization technology on the degree of restoration is equally crucial. The ignition temperature of traditional tobacco can reach 720℃, while the safe temperature of e-liquid is only 340℃. Under different temperature environments, the atomization effects of each flavoring factor vary significantly. For instance, the ratio of propylene glycol to glycerol in the atomizing agent directly affects the nicotine release amount – when the propylene glycol content increases, the nicotine release from the e-cigarette aerosol also increases accordingly. Therefore, how to achieve a reasonable ratio among the solubility of spices, nicotine content and the size of smoke has become the core challenge of the modulation work.
In addition, the taste of traditional tobacco is also influenced by processes such as rolling, baking and flavoring, which are difficult to fully replicate in the production of e-cigarettes. At present, the industry is attempting to preserve the original flavor of tobacco and simulate the layering changes of cigarette combustion through innovative means such as low-temperature atomization technology and composite atomization cores. However, the technology still needs to be continuously upgraded.