Patent ID: 8534297

Claim:
A method of testing moisture retention of tobacco, comprising: Step One of pretreating samples in which a cut tobacco sample is placed into a thermo-hygrostat for 48 hours to 72 hours to reach equilibrium for use; Step Two in which a predetermined amount of the cut tobacco sample to be tested is weighed, weight changes against time t of the cut tobacco sample is tested at a predetermined temperature in a dry environment, a dry basis weight of the cut tobacco sample is measured after reaching a predetermined equilibrium moisture content, and based on the measured dry basis weight as well as a curve showing the weight changes against time of the cut tobacco sample, a dry basis moisture content Mt of the cut tobacco sample at a time point t is calculated for drawing a curve showing changes in the dry basis moisture content Mt against the time t; Step Three in which, during a time period when the dry basis moisture content satisfies 0.4<Mt−Me/M 0 −Me<1.0, a dry basis moisture content value at a time point t is obtained from the curve showing changes in the dry basis moisture content Mt against the time t in Step Two and is used for drawing a line diagram for t0.5 the slope of which is a rate constant k of moisture desorption, wherein M 0 is the dry basis moisture content of the cut tobacco at the initial time point, Mt is the dry basis moisture content of the cut tobacco at the time point t, and Me is the dry basis moisture content of the cut tobacco reaching the equilibrium moisture content; and Step Four in which a cut tobacco sample with humectants added and a blank sample for comparison are respectively subjected to the above testing to obtain a moisture-desorption rate constant k in the dry environment, and the moisture retention of the tobacco humectant is determined according to a value of the k.