Levulinic Acid

Levulinic acid is an organic acid added to cigarettes. Levulinic acid (also known as 4-oxopentanoic acid) results from the breakdown of starch, cane sugar and other cellulosic materials. It occurs in beer, bread, lettuce, hydrolyzed soy protein,and roasted coffee. Levulinic acid is also one of the primary aromatic constituents responsible for the odor of smoke from burley tobacco.

Documents from R.J. Reynolds show that, when added to tobacco, levulinic acid reduces the harshness of smoke, and within a certain quantity range, enhances the binding of nicotine to nicotinic receptors in the rat brain.

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