Formation profiles have been determined for the major gas phase constituents formed in an inert atmosphere during the dynamic thermal decomposition of tobaccos extracted with hexane, chloroform, acetone, acetonitrile, and methanol. The profiles include methane, ethane, ethene, propane, propene, isoprene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, 2-butanone, acetonitrile, benzene, and toluene. Except for propene and propane, extraction of tobacco does not dramatically influence either the temperatures for maximum formation or the level of hydrocarbons formed during thermal decomposition of the tobaccos. This suggests that the majority of the gas phase hydrocarbons are formed from the insoluble leaf constituents. Isoprene has formation maxima at 375°C and 450°C, and extraction of tobacco with non-polar solvents removes leaf precursors responsible for the formation maxima at 375°C. Polar solvents remove the major isoprene precursors which are responsible for the maxima at 375° and 450°C. Extraction effects an increase of both formaldehyde and acetaldehyde formation but has little influence on the formation of either acetone or 2-butanone. The formation profile for acetonitrile has been established and shows that it has maximum formation at 410° and 500°C. Extraction has no influence either on the formation of benzene or toluene. Data from the profiles of these volatile constituents generally agree with smoke data from extracted tobacco which indicates that this method is useful for studying factors that influence the formation of the gas phase constituents

Formation profiles have been obtained for methane, ethane, ethene, propane, propene, butanes, butenes, isoprene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, 2-butanone, benzene, and toluene from the thermal decomposition of tobacco in the presence of helium and air. These data show that in helium the temperatures for optimum formation of gas phase constituents were: hydrocarbons, 450°C; aldehydes, 300°C; ketones, 450°C; isoprene, 380° and 475°C; and aromatic hydrocarbons, 450°C. Air enhances the formation of these gas phase constituents at 280°C and in most cases at 420°C, the latter temperature is an area of major weight loss of tobacco. Each formation maximum corresponds to a rate of weight loss maximum exhibited by derivative thermogravimetry. The results also show that it is possible to use effluent gas analysis to define the thermal behaviour of tobacco in terms of the formation of the gas phase constituents which provide a means to elicit the processes that occur during the thermal decomposition of tobacco.

Xanthophyll depleted, fasted broilers were intubated with various xanthophyll sources in a series of six experiments. The increase in serum xanthophyll per milligram xanthophyll intubated per kilogram body weight was used to estimate exahtnophyll availability. Statistically significant differences among samples within and among generic sources were obtained. As a result, beta-apo-8'-carotenoic acid ethyl ester (apo-EE) was used as a reference standard in Experiments 4 to 6. When the availability of apo-EE was given a relative value of 100, the availability of xanthophyll from corn gluten meal ranged from 47.7 to 89.1% (four samples), from dehydrated alfalfa, 34.6 to 65.4% (eight samples), and from Coastal Bermudagrass, 18.8 to 27.9% (three samples).

A rapid bioassay method for comparing xanthophyll availability from various sources or the pigmenting ability of genetic strains or crosses is proposed. Xanthophyll depleted, fasted birds are intubated with equal amounts of xanthophyll from various sources. Serum xanthophyll is then determined from blood samples obtained 14 to 24 hr following intubation. Results are expressed as the increase in serum xanthophyll (microgram/ml) over the intubated controls per milligram xanthophyll intubated per kilogram body weight. Limitations of the bioassay are discussed.

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