The effects of thermal treatment on the

quality of oriental tobacco

Natasha Zdraveska1, Marija Srbinoska1, Stefka Kirkova2

1
University “St.Kliment Ohridski”-Bitola, Scientific Tobacco Institute-Prilep,
Republic of Macedonia, e-mail: : natasha_z78@yahoo.com
2
Tobacco and Tobacco Products Institute-Plovdiv, 4108 Markovo, Republic of Bulgaria

Introduction
Treatment of raw tobacco leaf, as a final stage in technological process of the leaf, is one of the most
important factors in formation of tobacco leaf quality.
Leaves of raw tobacco are not suitable for use (smoking) because they have not clearly defined char-
acteristics in relation to flavor, taste, odor etc., and therefore they have to go through some treatment.
Natural seasonal fermentation of harvested oriental tobacco leaves is carried out under natural
conditions, by manipulation during the fall and winter and lasts until late autumn next year.
Artificial fermentation is carried out in special ferm-chambers with regulation of temperature,
relative humidity and ventilation. But this way of fermentation is very expensive and labor intensive.
Unlike the usually applied methods of fermentation (natural seasonal and artificial), thermal treat-
ment of oriental tobacco leaves is unique, fast and cheap and the leaves obtained during this process
retains their high quality.
So far, no improvement was achieved in modernization of the process of fermentation of oriental
tobacco leaves, which would yield raw material with higher quality and would reduce its duration.
In the late 80’s and early 90’s of the 20th century, some ​​research was made for the possibility to
apply redrying procedure in oriental leaf tobacco, similar to that applied in large leaf tobaccos (i.e.
Burley and Virginia).
Our investigations revealed the possibility of application of soft drying system in fermentation of
oriental tobaccos, without negative effects on their leaf quality.
Why oriental tobacco needs to pass through the soft dryer? Sometimes the moisture of tobacco
which is required for drying may be insufficient due to the weather conditions of the environment.
By the method outlined in this paper, moisture content of tobacco leaves becomes uniform. This
greatly improves the efficiency of the dryer and results homogenous moisture content during drying
process.

Material and Methods

Investigations reported in this paper were carried out during 2010 and 2011 in the Tobacco Insti-
tute Prilep, Macedonia.
Tobacco raw leaves of oriental tobacco were supplied from companies for tobacco purchase and
treatment in Macedonia.
Industrial grade-AB of oriental tobacco type Prilep before and after soft drying was used for this
investigation.
For comparison, tobacco material fermented both in laboratory (thermostat) and in natural condi-
tions have been used.
The material used were processed using the so-called “soft drying” technology, ensuring the pres-
ervation of its good smoking characteristics, specific taste and aroma.

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 “Soft drying” is a term that has become antiquated with this new process of “stabilized drying”- a
look at the future of drying oriental tobacco leaf.
Soft dryer is composed of five chambers for drying, a cooling chamber and chamber for condi-
tioning.
Tobacco moisture at the entrance of soft dryer ranges from 15-16%, and at the exit it ranges from
13.5-13.7%. The temperature is controlled during the entire process by LCD monitors. In the drying
chambers it ranges from 49-50 0C, in the cooling chamber it is about 30 0C, and in the conditioning
chamber 45-46.6 0C.
The duration of the entire procedure is 10 to 13 minutes.
After thermal treatment, tobacco was packed in standard C48 cartons. Material was stored in rela-
tive air humidity of the ambient ranging from 45-50% and temperature 10-17 0C. Analysis of the leaf
quality was performed before and after 12 months maturation, i.e. in the process of aging.
When tobacco raw material passes through the soft dryer, it performs a kind of pasteurization.
Temperature is about 50 0C over a period of 10-13 minutes. The aim is to reach tobacco moisture of
about 13% during the maturation period of at least 3 months, to avoid side effects such as darkening
and mold of tobacco.

Results and Discussions

Results of chemical and technological analyses of the effect of thermal treatment on oriental to-
bacco leaf quality are presented in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Table 1. Technological characteristics of oriental tobacco leaf type Prilep-industrial grade AB fermented by
different methods before maturation (year 2010).

Catalase activity Mould Water retention capacity

Code pH value
cm3 O2 % %
Prilep АB before
1.44 5.30 5.31 20.71
fermentation
Prilep АB after
1.21 4.50 5.38 21.58
soft drying
Prilep AB-artificially
1.20 4.50 5.11 19.78
fermented
Prilep AB-naturally
2.00 7.50 5.30 21.11
fermented

Table 2. Technological characteristics of oriental tobacco leaf type Prilep-industrial grade AB fermented by
different methods after maturation (year 2011)

Catalase activity Mould Water retention capacity

Code pH value
cm3 O2 % %
Prilep АB before
1.40 5.00 5.31 17.54
fermentation
Prilep АB after soft
1.15 3.60 5.36 21.13
drying
Prilep AB-artificially
1.30 4.90 5.20 19.48
fermented
Prilep AB-naturally
1.50 5.40 5.30 19.88
fermented

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The effects of thermal treatment on the quality of oriental tobacco

From the results presented in Tables 1 and 2, it might be concluded that changes in technological
characteristics of tobacco by soft drying and artificially fermented tobacco are very slow and almost
negligible, whereas in the naturally fermented material they are more intensive.
This is due to the fact that industrially fermented tobacco is already stable in its characteristics
and the changes are almost negligible even after 12 months of aging, while in the other material the
changes are more pronounced, but they do not exceed the acceptable limits, because all tobaccos are
in excellent condition with good quality.

Table 3. Chemical characteristics of oriental tobacco type Prilep-industrial grade AB fermented by different
methods before maturation (year 2010)
Total
Nicotine Total N Proteins Soluble sugars Polyphenols Pure ashes Shmuk’s
reduction
% % % % %
%
% index

Prilep АB
before 1.80 2.55 6.87 14.50 2.66 17.16 11.47 2.11
fermentation
Prilep АB
after soft 1.96 2.57 7.30 17.47 3.09 20.56 10.98 2.39
drying
Prilep AB-
artificially 1.04 2.53 6.56 13.18 2.09 15.27 11.93 2.01
fermented
Prilep AB-
naturally 1.33 2.73 7.70 15.07 2.59 17.66 11.07 1.95
fermented

Table 4. Chemical characteristics of oriental tobacco type Prilep-industrial grade AB fermented by different
methods after maturation (year 2011)
Total
Nicotine Total N Proteins Soluble sugars Polyphenols Pure ashes Shmuk’s
reduction
% % % % %
%
% index

Prilep АB
before 1.49 2.44 5.56 16.66 0.18 16.84 12.44 2.99
fermentation
Prilep АB
after soft 1.92 2.47 6.94 17.44 0.09 17.53 11.84 2.51
drying
Prilep AB-
artificially 1.02 2.49 6.07 12.42 0.61 13.03 12.97 2.04
fermented
Prilep AB-
naturally 1.16 2.77 7.29 15.33 0.52 15.85 12.30 2.10
fermented

Results presented in Tables 3 and 4 show that changes in chemical composition of oriental tobacco
leaves during maturation are almost negligible. Bigger changes are noticed in the variants naturally
fermented tobacco and unfermented tobacco, which was used as a check. This is due to the fact that
these tobaccos are not completely fermented and stabilized, and so all changes during the process of
maturation are expressed more intensively.
It might be stated that thermal treatment (soft drying) has positive effect on oriental tobacco leaf
quality and after the process of maturation, i.e. aging, tobacco material is stabilized, which makes it
suitable for further utilization.

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 Conclusions
Based on our investigations on the effects of thermal treatment on the quality of Prilep oriental
tobacco, the following conclusions might be drawn:
– Application of soft drying system in fermentation of oriental tobaccos results in a kind of pas-
teurization;
– All changes in previously fermented tobaccos are small and even negligible during maturation;
– Greater changes during maturation are noticed in unfermented tobaccos;
– Technological and chemical analyses show a satisfactory stability of the oriental leaf material
studied during the whole course of maturation.

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