초록
On-going research has recently documented the certain tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) are formed during the curing process by an interaction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in combustion gases and naturally occurring compounds in the tobacco leaves. Although the role of TSNAs in human health have been extensively investigated, little research has been conducted on the physical and chemical phenomena relating to their formation during curing. In this paper, we developed a mathematical model for describing NOx absorption into green (uncured) tobacco. We found considerable uptake of NOx by green tobacco with variations related to several factors. Specifically, tobacco from the lower stalk positions (bottom one third) absorbs more NOx gas per unit weight than tobacco from upper stalk positions. Additionally, the green tobacco packed with a density of 0.103 g/㎤ absorbs more NOx gas per unit weight than either 0.0443 g/㎤ or 0.0739 g/㎤. Further, the NOx absorption increases proportionally with temperature with the maximum absorption point around 4$0^{\circ}C$.