Tobacco treatment process

Abstract

Two types of tobacco are placed into and kept separate in an aqueous medium wherein water-soluble chemical components of each of the two types of tobacco are solubilized to form a tobacco extract. The two types of tobacco remain in the aqueous medium or tobacco extract until an equilibrium is reached of the solubilized chemical components in the aqueous medium. The two types of tobacco are then removed from the tobacco extract, dried separately, blended into a preselected ratio and cut into a preselected size for use in a cigarette smoking article. The tobacco extract may be subjected to other treatments to reduce the concentration of microflora and may be added back to the two types of tobacco prior to blending and cutting.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.