Nicotine-free tobacco
As nicotine free tobacco tobacco products and related materials shall be described, which are used for the production of nicotine-free tobacco products. Nicotine-free tobacco in the narrower sense is obtained from cultivating nicotine-free tobacco plants or by withdrawing nicotine from conventional tobacco. However, various substances not obtained from the tobacco plant are also referred to as nicotine-free tobacco.
Products containing tobacco are subject in Germany the tobacco product law , regardless of whether nicotine is included. From the tax assessment as a tobacco product "exempted are products made entirely of substances other than tobacco that are used exclusively for medical purposes and are medicinal products within the meaning of the Medicines Act" ( Section 1 (8) TabStG). This regulation follows the requirements of Directive 2011/64 / EU.
Cultures of the tobacco plant with reduced nicotine
Nicotine-free tobacco from low-nicotine breeds of the tobacco plant was grown in Germany in the 1930s. The varieties were bred in the Reichsanstalt für Tobakbau , founded in 1927 , because it was assumed at the time that the harmful effects of tobacco smoke were mainly due to nicotine. However, these varieties could not prevail due to the lack of certain aromatic substances. In 2003 and 2004, almost nicotine-free tobacco plants were grown in Argentina through genetic manipulation and sold in the USA in the form of cigarettes.
First nicotine-free tobacco
The last step in nicotine biosynthesis is catalyzed by the BBL protein family ( BBL - berberine bridge like ), consisting of 6 proteins. In order to completely switch off nicotione biosynthesis, it is necessary to remove all 6 proteins. Conventional breeding reaches its limits here, but with modern genetic engineering it is possible to target genes and cut them with the help of the CRISPR Cas9 gene scissors . Natural DNA repair systems of the tobacco plant put the ends of the genetic material back together ( non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) ), but errors occur. These errors lead to the fact that the corresponding proteins are formed incorrectly and lose their function. In the case of nicotine biosynthesis, the last biosynthetic step could be switched off. The nicotine concentration of these tobacco plants is at the detection limit. By selfing succeeded the gene cutter out of the genome to be removed, so that the nicotine-free plant no more foreign genes are present. The inserted mutations are no different from naturally occurring. However, due to an EU Court of Justice ruling from July 2018, this plant must be labeled as a "gene plant" and is subject to the genetic engineering law in Europe.
Tobacco substitutes
Nicotine-free tobacco is obtained from the following plants, among others:
- Sugar cane (e.g. as a tobacco-free tobacco substitute for water pipes ( Shisha ), among others sold by the Indian company Soex )
- Herbs (e.g. Knaster )
The tobacco substitute products can be flavored with tobacco additive- like substances. In addition, fruit flavors are used that are not used in tobacco products.
Health effects
The substitutes do not contain nicotine and are therefore not addictive. However, the combustion gases that u. a. Contain carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as other pollutants (e.g. carbonyls) that are released when any plant substance is burned. Smoking nicotine-free substitutes is therefore also a health hazard - but can be used for a limited time as part of smoking cessation programs in order to combat the symptoms of the non-substance-related addiction component of tobacco addiction and thus, for example, to avoid a relapse to nicotine-containing tobacco products.
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- ↑ Article 2 (2) of Directive 2011/64 / EU
- ↑ Norbert Zähringer: The German Tobacco Research Institute announces the cultivation of nicotine-free tobacco - 70 years ago. (No longer available online.) In: KalenderBlatt. DeutschlandRadio Berlin, September 28, 2004, archived from the original on January 23, 2008 ; Retrieved August 3, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jan Lucht: Nicotine-free tobacco: Biotech cigarettes open up new perspectives. In: IN - News - Point. InterNutrition, 2003, accessed August 3, 2008 .
- ↑ Julia Schachtsiek, Felix Stehle: Nicotine-free, nontransgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum left) edited by CRISPR-Cas9 . In: Plant Biotechnology Journal . tape 0 , no. 0 , ISSN 1467-7652 , doi : 10.1111 / pbi.13193 ( wiley.com [accessed September 19, 2019]).
- ↑ Crispr / Cas judgment of the ECJ: The long shadow of ideologies. Retrieved September 19, 2019 .
