EAR: Disinfecting Cigars in a Cigar Fridge/Cabinet?

[El Presidente]

EAR= Email Assistance Required. 

I received the below overnight and have little value to add.  Can those in the know chime in? 

• Is there a reason to use an antimicrobial additive at all? 
• What would be the likely results? 

" I’m very interested in your opinion on the product I use to disinfect cigars. It looks like chlorhexidine but has no smell and taste, also does not contain alcohol. It is called miramistin in my country. I use 30 ml per liter of distilled water in fridge Liebherr. What do you think about it? Is it right that I use it?"

 

Google 

Miramistin is a topical antiseptic with broad antimicrobial action, including activity against biofilms and a clinical profile showing good tolerability. Miramistin was developed within a framework of the Soviet Union Cold War Space Program.1 Jul 2020

 

 

[jakebarnes]

I don't have much to contribute to this outside of stating that I do not use any antimicrobials for my cigars. I tend to be a "keep it simple" person which is why I am just a coolidor and passive humidity person.

[Lfhard]

I don’t add anything to my humidor except distailled water. I do make sure I wash my hands before I go grabbing things in there just to help prevent things from growing in there. We do use Chlorhexidine here in the states for a mouth wash people use after oral surgery. As far as putting it in my humidor I keep it plain and simple. Just water. 

[Namisgr11]

What's the use of an antiseptic when you're going to incinerate your cigar and everything inside of it?  [Provided your humidor isn't a standing biology experiment].

[NSXCIGAR]

What kind of microbes are of concern? I don't know of any germs or viruses that live for more than a week or so on surfaces. If the cigars have been in the box for at least that long there's nothing you can't see that could harm you on the surface of the cigar.

[TheGipper]

I am amazed that germophobe cigar smokers even exist.

It's like a helicopter mom or safetyism type who is also an extreme sports enthusiast.

[Ford2112]

I spray the inside of my wineador with napalm ,paraquat,and agent orange. In other words wtf??

 

 

[ha_banos]

I do occasionally mix in some propelyne glycol with the distilled water. Which comes in a lot of ready mixed humidification solutions. Inhibits mould and bacteria. Who knows.

[Hollywood Ninja]

I don't even use distilled water any more.

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[Lamboinee]

I do not know anything about disinfecting the actual cigars or boxes and I am not sure how microbes differ from other microorganisms.

From my own experience I did "disinfect" my wineadors when I set them up.  Before I placed any cigars in the wineadors, I wiped everything down with alcohol followed by distilled water to clean them out and remove any residue. Then, I wiped the wineadors down again with distilled water to make sure that everything was as clean as possible.  Then I put my cigars in for storage/aging.  I have not added anything else except distilled water or boveda packs.  I would think any "disinfecting" of the cigars or boxes could cause harm to tobacco.  From I understand, tobacco has numerous small organisms (microbes, bacteria, all kinds of stuff) that are present on tobacco at various stages of processing.  I understand that some of them can remain even after fermentation/curing.  Although I'm not a scientist, I imagine that some of these things could play a role in the aging and flavor development of the tobacco. If true, I would be worried that removing the "microbes" could remove some of the beneficial organisms. But I honestly do not know.

Below is some general info. I've been reading lately regarding the organisms that live on tobacco and play a role in the processing and development of tobacco leaf:

Li: Influence of microbiota and metabolites on the... - Google Scholar

Liu: Microbial community and metabolic function analysis... - Google Scholar

Nedeltcheva-Antonova: Insight into the aroma profile... - Google Scholar

Qin: Aroma components of tobacco powder from different... - Google Scholar

Rooney: Bacterial species diversity in cigarettes... - Google Scholar

Saunders: Nicotine biosynthetic enzyme activities... - Google Scholar

Smyth: The bacterial communities of little cigars... - Google Scholar

[nKostyan]

There is one case when such treatment can be justified - mold has already appeared on the internal surfaces of the humidor. All other cases are excluded by maintaining the correct temperature.
And of course there is no need to disinfect cigars.