Effect of Propylene Glycol on Cigar Mainstream Smoke TNCO Yields Cover

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Effect of Propylene Glycol on Cigar Mainstream Smoke TNCO Yields

Contributions to Tobacco & Nicotine Research

Volume 34 (2025): Issue 4 (September 2025)

By: Dino Parente, Luca Tipaldi, Carmela Senatore, Stefano Ciaravolo and Sandra Minissi

Open Access

|Nov 2025

Figures & Tables

Picture of a typical flavored Toscanello©.

Plots of means and 95% CI, expressed in milligram per cigar, of CO, nicotine, water and NFDPM in mainstream smoke of M1, M2 and M3 cigars.

Plots of means and 95% CI, expressed in mg/cigar, of CO, nicotine, water and NFDPM in mainstream smoke of A, B, and C Cigars.

Propylene glycol (PG) and water percent content in whole cigar (filler + wrapper) of the three experimental cigars produced by adding an aqueous solution containing 0 (A), low (B) and high (C) PG amount_ Target PG% are also reported_

Cigar	%PG (Target)	%PG (Actual)	% Water
A	0	0	8.35
B	3.11	3.06	8.29
C	8.50	8.56	8.96

Mainstream smoke yields of CO, nicotine, water and NFDPM for the experimental cigars A, B, C_ Given are the mean values and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in mg/g tobacco_

Cigar^a	CO (mg/g)		Nicotine (mg/g)		Water (mg/g)		NFDPM (mg/g)

	mean	95% CI	mean	95% CI	mean	95% CI	mean	95% CI
A	13.40	12.02;14.79	1.026	0.936;1.116	0.756	0.652;0.860	8.46	7.78;9.15
B	17.42	16.25;18.59	1.119	1.034;1.204	1.264	1.115;1.414	10.07	9.39;10.74
C	25.55	24.07;27.03	0.994	0.931;1.058	1.909	1.724;2.093	12.60	11.93;13.28

Main physical characteristics of a flavored Toscanello© cigar_ Diameter-1 and -2 are measured at cigar's head (mouth end) and foot (fire end), respectively_ Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation_

Cigar	Weight (g)	Length (mm)	Draw resistance (mmWG)	Diameter-1 (mm)	Diameter-2 (mm)
Flavored Toscanello^©	3.996 ± 0.368	77.62 ± 1.14	94.38 ± 23.49	10.07 ± 0.61	13.89 ± 0.49

Mainstream smoke yields of CO, nicotine, water, NFDPM, TPM and puff number for M1, M2 and M3 cigars_ Given are the mean values and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in mg/cigar_

Cigar^a	CO (mg/cig)		Nicotine (mg/cig)		Water (mg/cig)		NFDPM (mg/cig)		TPM (mg/cig)		Puff number

	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
M1	88.45	86.19;90.71	3.588	3.472;3.704	4.432	4.174;4.689	41.18	40.06;42.31	49.13	47.76;50.50	58.27	56.57;59.97
M2	101.19	98.50;103.88	2.729	2.648;2.809	6.075	5.798;6.353	37.39	36.43;38.36	46.20	45.02;47.37	65.44	63.91;66.98
M3	112.20	109.79;114.61	2.395	2.337;2.453	8.430	8.082;8.778	44.34	43.42;45.27	55.17	53.97;56.37	65.53	64.38;66.68

Mainstream smoke yields of CO, nicotine, water, NFDPM, TPM and puff number for the experimental Cigars A, B and C_ Given are the mean values and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in mg/cigar_

Cigar^a	CO (mg/cig)		Nicotine (mg/cig)		Water (mg/cig)		NFDPM (mg/cig)		TPM (mg/cig)		Puff number

	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
A	49.74	45.13;54.35	3.806	3.536;4.077	2.807	2.440;3.174	31.43	29.33;33.53	38.04	35.44;40.64	76.16	73.11;79.21
B	62.20	58.00;66.41	3.970	3.728;4.212	4.491	4.004;4.978	35.78	33.86;37.70	44.24	41.84;46.63	69.01	65.73;72.29
C	87.84	82.75;92.94	3.409	3.212;3.606	6.541	5.947;7.135	43.26	41.16;45.35	53.21	50.54;55.88	68.94	66.58;71.31

Mainstream smoke yields of CO, nicotine, water and NFDPM for M1, M2 and M3 cigars_ Given are the mean values and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in mg/g tobacco_

Cigar^a	CO (mg/g)		Nicotine (mg/g)		Water (mg/g)		NFDPM (mg/g)

	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
M1	26.95	26.23;27.68	1.104	1.060;1.148	1.362	1.278;1.445	12.67	12.22;13.11
M2	30.28	29.48;31.08	0.827	0.797;0.857	1.833	1.744;1.921	11.31	10.94;11.67
M3	33.19	32.44;33.95	0.716	0.695;0.737	2.517	2.404;2.630	13.23	12.89;13.58

Mainstream smoke yields of NFDPM and NFDPM minus PG (NFDPM-PG) for the experimental Cigars A, B and C_

Cigar	NFDPM (mg/g)		NFDPM-PG (mg/g)

	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
A	8.46	7.78;9.15	8.46	7.78;9.15
B	10.07	9.39;10.74	9.34	8.70;9.98
C	12.60	11.93;13.28	10.39	9.84;10.94

Main physical characteristics of three flavored Toscanello cigars routinely produced in Manifatture Sigaro Toscano with low (M1), medium (M2), and high (M3) propylene glycol (PG) content in the flavoring blend_ Diameter-1 and -2 are measured at cigar's head (mouth end) and foot (fire end), respectively_ Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation_

Cigar	Weight (g)	Length (mm)	Draw resistance (mmWG)	Diameter-1 (mm)	Diameter-2 (mm)
M1	3.806 ± 0.343	77.34 ± 1.25	91.26 ± 22.47	10.19 ± 0.61	13.76 ± 0.41
M2	3.932 ± 0.330	77.55 ± 1.12	89.50 ± 23.61	9.84 ± 0.52	13.72 ± 0.44
M3	4.142 ± 0.346	77.81 ± 1.04	99.41 ± 23.02	10.18 ± 0.65	14.19 ± 0.47

Main physical characteristics of experimental cigars (A, B, C)_ Diameter-1 and -2 are measured at cigar's head (mouth end) and foot (fire end), respectively_ Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation_

Cigar^a	Weight (g)	Length (mm)	Draw resistance (mmWG)	Diameter-1 (mm)	Diameter-2 (mm)
A	4.089 ± 0.231	77.07 ± 0.98	111.93 ± 18.93	9.44 ± 0.61	13.68 ± 0.43
B	4.042 ± 0.306	77.03 ± 0.72	92.13 ± 13.42	9.39 ± 0.67	13.98 ± 0.60
C	4.171 ± 0.155	77.13 ± 0.73	99.90 ± 20.39	9.95 ± 0.61	14.44 ± 0.77

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/cttr-2025-0017 | Journal eISSN: 2719-9509

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Language: English

Page range: 191 - 199

Submitted on: Oct 23, 2023

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Accepted on: Aug 13, 2025

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Published on: Nov 11, 2025

Published by: Institut für Tabakforschung GmbH

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

Keywords:

mainstream cigar smoke,

cigar smoke chemistry

Related subjects:

General interest,

Life sciences, other,

© 2025 Dino Parente, Luca Tipaldi, Carmela Senatore, Stefano Ciaravolo, Sandra Minissi, published by Institut für Tabakforschung GmbH
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

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