Determination of the Antioxidant Properties of Tobacco Smoke by Cytochrome C

The reduction of cytochrome c was taken as an index of the antioxidant activity of the whole smoke and the vapour phase. The method developed consists in the determination of the antioxidant activity in smoke by spectrophotometric and potentiometric determinations. Cigarette smoke was placed in direct contact with the buffer solution of the cytochrome c, thus avoiding the collection and extraction necessitated by other systems. The antioxidant activity of smoke was determined by spectrophotometric analysis as a function of thee variation in the absorption value of 550 nm caused by the reduced cytochrome, while the potentiometric analysis determines the rapid decrease in the reduction potential. The data obtained by these two methods corresponded perfectly with each other and they also showed that the above methods were reliable as an index of the antioxidant activity of smoke. Reduction of cytochrome in the smoke of ventilated cigarettes shows a difference in the vapour phase and not in the whole smoke.