From: Steven Rossellini <srossellini@yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2006 10:44 PM
To:cigars@dongabriel.net
Subject:Re: A free sampler, reply...Lay-Keow Ng Acid testDon Gabriel....
First, thank you, sincerely, for your very prompt reply. I do not wish to be argumentative, but I am consulting with a friend who is a cell biologist at the University of Minnesota Agricultural Research Station in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Lay-Keow Ng test is not DNA based, but, rather is based on the acid profile in the tobacco, which is solely determined by the chemical composition of the soil where it was grown. Cuban tobacco has an acid profile which has never been replicated outside of Cuba. It has nothing to do with DNA or native seed origin. Below is the URL for a short article from Cubanet which describes the test. The acid test has been very successful and, as I understand from my colleague, 100% accurate since 2001.
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y01/apr01/06e8.htm
Lay-Keow Ng first presented her findings, "Solid Phase Extraction and GC/MS for the Analysis of Cigar Tobaccos" at a conference at the University of Waterloo, Canada on May 2, 2000.
Conference Extract: To aid customs officials in their efforts to prosecute smugglers of suspect Cuban cigars, Lay-Keow Ng a research scientist at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and colleagues use a technique called principle component analysis. Findings: Tobacco contains a very, complex mixture of chemicals, Ng explains. "All cigars are made from leaves of the same tobacco plant species, but the levels of various chemicals, especially certain organic acids, vary greatly depending on where the plant was grown and how the harvested tobacco was cured before being made into cigars." Ng's team has identified eight organic acids that occur in a very specific characteristic ratio in Cuban cigars.
"It is impossible for acid proportions in cigars from non-Cuban grown tobacco to reflect the Cuban signature," Ng says. Although many imposter Cuban cigars can be identified based on their external appearance and packaging says Ng, "This scientific test results in evidence that is 100% reliable, valid and fully acceptable in Canadian courts."
J. Agric. Food Chem., 49 (3), 1132 -1138, 2001. 10.1021/jf001210y S0021-8561(00)01210-3
Published 2001 American Chemical Society, Characterization of Cigar Tobaccos by Gas Chromatographic/Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Nonvolatile Organic Acids: Application to the Authentication of Cuban Cigars, authors-Lay-Keow Ng,* Michel Hupé, Micheline Vanier, and Dennis Moccia...Laboratory and Scientific Services Directorate, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, 79 Bentley Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0L5
Received for review October 3, 2000. Revised manuscript received December 21, 2000. Accepted December 26, 2000.
Abstract:A reliable method based on gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) profiling of nonvolatile organic acids is described for the characterization of cigars. The method involves an aqueous extraction of ground tobacco and selective isolation of the acids by simply stirring strong anion exchange (SAX) disks in the aqueous tobacco extract. The acids are then directly silylated on the disk with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyl-trifluroacetamide (MSTFA) in acetonitrile in an autosampler vial. Elution of the derivatized acids in situ allows the sample to be directly analyzed by GC/MS without further sample handling. Compared to the conventional disk-extraction technique using a vacuum manifold, this method is much less labor intensive, and is desirable for multiple sample analysis. Nicotinic acid, succinic acid, glyceric acid, malic acid, pyroglutamic acid, threonic acid, citric acid, uracil, and an unidentified acid were reproducibly quantified in tobacco samples.
Principal component analysis (PCA) of the acid profiles of the tobaccos of Cuban cigars and non-Cuban cigars shows an absolute separation of the two groups, indicating that the acid profiles are invaluable for the authentication of Cuban cigars.
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