Preservative for snuff

Amjaf

Pls suggest the best preservative for moist snuff.

Amjaf

everyone! I m new here from pakistan
We are moist snuff munufacturer. Recipe contains
Tobacco powder 50 kg
Wood ash. 10 kg
Lime 5 kg
Guar gum 6 kg
Water 50 kg
We adds alot of preservative as listed below:
Sodium benzoate
Sodium bicarbonate
Poatssium sulphate
Potassium metabisulphate
Citric acid
Boric acid
Acetic acid
Methyl parben
Buthyl paraben
Sodium sorbate
But No one work proporly.
The snuff smell goes unpleasant after few days and also color change
Please help me in this formulation
And suggest the best preservative

thatshychef

Have you tried using propylene glycol?  Aside from being a humectant, it has preservative properties and a mildly sweet flavor.  Although propylene glycol is food safe, be sure to select a brand that explicitly states that it is food safe (some brands use processes or packaging that may make their product unsuitable for ingestion/oral consumption).  Also, since it is a humectant, you may need to use less water in your recipe.  Additionally, you may have to adjust the recipe of your snuff since the sweet flavor of the propylene glycol may impact the flavor of the final product.

volunge

Are you sure you are using right tobacco, @Amjaf? Nicotiana tabacum varieties are not suitable for naswar, like the one if this photo (Shaheen). https://ibb.co/sVpBLXq You need to use Nicotiana rustica!

Please upload a photo of your product.

Amjaf

Volunge pls share ur whatup number

Amjaf

Thatshychef we use propylene glycol but it not works. The result is same

Johano

@Amjaf what exactly is the result?

You wrote that it goes bad after few days, but its not possible.

It is the fermentation process that makes snuff smell different and it gets darker.

Its usually a good sign.
But I have no idea how oral snuff is supposed to be made.

Amjaf

Johano the snuff becomes spoil after few days. Thats a problem with me

volunge

@Amjaf, I don't use a phone. Feel free to post here (or PM).

We cannot understand what exactly do you mean by "spoiled"? Plain naswar always stinks, fresh it reeks of ammonia. It's OK! I would be very disappointed if my naswar or chemma reached me ammonia-free. You can scent it with essential oil, if scented naswar is a thing in your region.

Rustica tobacco doesn't change the colour that easy. Oral naswar, even that of the so-called "black" kind, is far from being even dark. It's khaki (greenish-brown). If your naswar turned black, something is wrong either with the ingredients (or proportion), or with the process (or both), but believe me, you do not need preservatives for this tobacco product, when the tek is right. If you have wrong recipe, use bad ingredients or run the process in a wrong way, preservatives won't do any wonder!

Adding alkalis to regular tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) turns it dark or even close to black. The smell also changes dramatically. If you use Nicotiana rustica, darkening doesn't happen.

Also, you need to use slaked lime.

volunge

Besides Maghrebian chemma, another nice example of preservatives-free Nicotiana rustica oral product is Turkish naswai - Marash otu. Composition is very simple: Nicotiana rustica, oak ash (1:1) and water. Moisture content - around 50%.

https://snuffhouse.com/discussion:/7773/marasotu-snus-n-rustica

https://www.google.lt/search?q=maras+otu&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjpyPvht_jsAhXRAXcKHQYrBDYQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=maras+otu&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECAAQEzIGCAAQHhATOgYIABAHEB5QvRxYyx9gtSNoAHAAeACAAZ4DiAGrBJIBBzAuMS40LTGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=_MSqX-naAtGD3AOG1pCwAw&bih=578&biw=1252

Impossible to fail. You don't need preservatives.

Amjaf

I try to post picture of my naswar but not loading

Amjaf

Its fresh naswar

Amjaf

Spoil means snuff smell and color change

Amjaf

I think its bacteria which spoil the naswar

n9inchnails

What about salt (sodium chloride)? Dont see it in your list of ingredients and salt is an essential ingredient. It moderates and slows fermentation and also acts as a preservative.

volunge

@Amjaf, you can upload pictures on https://imgbb.com/ and post the link here. It seems that uploading
pictures directly to the message board doesn't work.

You are probably using insufficient amount of alkalis. Try this formula (all ingredients by weight):

Tobacco 38%
Water 38%
Ash 15%
Lime 5%
Guar gum 4%

I'm not sure if the amount of guar gum is right, but this ingredient is unknown to me. Make three small test batches following my suggested formula with reduced guar content (4%, 3%, 2%; indicated by weight).

What tobacco are you using for this product?

Amjaf

Sir we use number one tobacco of pakistan. Which is from kpk of pkaistan

Amjaf

n9inchnails we use salt but it does not work. Salt create a problem because of it water comes out of snuff

Amjaf

See the spoil naswar
https://ibb.co/LkYYmcy

Amjaf

See the fresh one
https://ibb.co/5MJdg51

Amjaf

https://ibb.co/jkSFfkJ it fresh

Amjaf

https://ibb.co/yprjFMD
https://ibb.co/kcHF2f7
https://ibb.co/RC3ys95
It is fresh naswar

Amjaf

After few days naswar spoil see
https://ibb.co/41gGXbF
https://ibb.co/FhRbGxg
https://ibb.co/6YbXMVK

volunge

I'm far from being an expert, but I would say that colour is ok. Those white flakes look like sklaked lime or alkaline salts from ash (probably both). If it's actually mold, I would suspect that it's guar gum to blame. Maybe it's contaminated, or simply makes a good medium for fungi (mold) growth. Tobacco alone, mixed in right proportions with strong alkalis (slaked lime and ashes) and water, should not be susceptible to mold, when pH is 10 or higher (up to 11).

Amjaf

White flakes is paper, it is not mold. I wrote the date of munufacter of snuff on paper in place in snuff for checking that how many days snuff remain fresh. Thats paper

Amjaf

Volunge how to check the PH?

volunge

Most affordable and the easiest way to check the pH level is to use litmus papers for base test.

Use those covering full base range from pH 7 to 14. Check your local suppliers. Litmus papers are relatively cheap.

You need to dissolve 1 gram of product in 10 millilitres of distilled water and inser litmus paper at least two times - after one minute and after ten minutes. Calculate the average then.

Or you can use digital pH meter in the same manner for more accurate measuring, but these devices are pricey. The cheapest ones which are sold for 10 euros are not suitable, they are very unreliable.

Measuring the pH is easy.

But in all fairness, best indicator is the lip and gums of naswar user. If you use good quality naswar yourself, you will feel if pH is too high. Too high pH is PAINFUL. The pain continues even after removing naswar from your lip. Your mucous "peels off", too... Using too alkaline naswar, you litterally end up with a chemical burn and an open wound (raw flesh) in your lip/gums.

volunge

If mold is not an issue, I don't understand what's wrong with it.

Ammonia should air out with time, at least most part of it, if that is your concern.

Like I said, colour looks normal. Compare: https://www.facebook.com/Mardannaswar/ Also, run google search for naswar images. Colour gamut is pretty wide, all possible tones of khaki.

Also, worth trying making a small batch without guar gum, and the batch with reduced content of guar gum. And the one without slaked lime, only with ashes (consider using larger amount of it, that is, up to 30% ash; one with guar gum and one without guar gum).

And adding 0.5% ammonium chloride.

Amjaf

Ok

mrmanos

Vegetable Glycerin works well but it's very sweet. It's a food grade product. I always add it to snus, and sometimes add it to dark coarse snuff for the nose.

Amjaf

mrmanos our snuff is oral. We try glycerin but it does not keep the snuff preserved for long time.