Tobacco is the name given to the plant and cured leaves of several species of Nicotiana which may be used, commonly after ageing and processing in various ways for the purpose of smoking, chewing, snuffing, and extraction of nicotine. Nicotine and related alkaloids of tobacco furnish the habit-forming and narcotic effects which account for general worldwide use.
History
Tobacco was first cultivated by the Indians of North and South America when Christopher Columbus and other early explorers arrived in America; they found natives using tobacco much in the same manner as it is used today. As per Indians, it was supposed to possess medicinal properties. Jean Nicot the French ambassador at Lisbon, in whose honour the genus Nicotiana was named, is said to have sent the seed of N. tabacum to the queen of France, Catherine de Medicis. From Europe tobacco was taken largely by Portuguese and Spanish sailors, to the furthest corners of the known world.
Manufacturing
Tobacco is harvested from 70-130 days after transplanting by one of the two methods:
The entire plant is cut with the stalk split or speared and hung on a tobacco stick
The leaves are removed at intervals as they mature.
Curing: Curing and subsequent ageing allow for the slow oxidation and degradation of carotenoids in tobacco leaves. This produces certain compounds in the tobacco leaves, and gives sweet hay, tea, rose oil, or fruity aromatic flavour that contributes to the "smoothness" of the smoke. Starch is converted to sugar, which glycates protein, and is oxidized into advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), a caramelization process that also adds flavour. Inhalation of these AGEs in tobacco smoke contributes to atherosclerosis and cancer. Levels of AGE are dependent on the curing method used.
Tobacco can be cured through several methods, including:
Air cured tobacco is hung in well-ventilated barns and allowed to dry over a period of four to eight weeks. Air-cured tobacco is low in sugar, which gives the tobacco smoke a light, mild flavour, and high in nicotine. Cigar and burley tobaccos are air-cured.
Fire cured tobacco is hung in large barns where fires of hardwoods are kept on continuous or intermittent low smoulder and takes between three days and ten weeks, depending on the process and the tobacco. Fire curing produces a tobacco low in sugar and high in nicotine. Pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff are fire-cured.
Flue-cured tobacco was originally strung onto tobacco sticks, which were hung from tier-poles in curing barns (Aus: kilns, also traditionally called Oasts). These barns have flues run from externally fed fire boxes, heat-curing the tobacco without exposing it to smoke, slowly raising the temperature over the course of the curing. The process generally takes about a week. This method produces cigarette tobacco that is high in sugar and has medium to high levels of nicotine.
Sun-cured tobacco dries uncovered in the sun. This method is used in Turkey, Greece and other Mediterranean countries to produce oriental tobacco. Sun-cured tobacco is low in sugar and nicotine and is used in cigarettes.
Grading: After curing, the leaf may be piled in a bulk for a time to mature before it is prepared for sale. Type of leaf and local custom determine the fineness of grading. The leaf may be graded' position on the plant, colour, size, maturity; soundness and other quality elements.
Processing: After purchase and any necessary regrading, many large leaf tobaccos are redried - dried then given back the exact amount of moisture needed for ageing before being packed in cases or hogsheads. The first stage in turning leaves into tobacco is to remove the midrib and crush them into leaves.
Varieties of Tobacco
Latakia: It is a strong and spicy variety of tobacco made from plants grown in Northern Cyria, Cyprus and other Eastern countries. This is smoke-cured by the fire of the Asiatic oak, which turns it into a dark shade. Sometimes cow dung or camel dung is used as fuel for the fire. Therefore it has a rich and heavy taste with an aroma having a smoky characteristic. Latakia is an important ingredient for many English mixtures e.g.
Dunhill 965
Early Morning
Red Rapperee
Black Mallory
However, the percentage should not exceed 40-50% as excess use would tend to make it dry and harsh.
Perique: It is a red burley type of tobacco grown and processed in Louisiana, New Orleans. This variety is used to increase the strength of the piped mixture. It is blended with Virginia generally e.g. Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture
Pipe Tobacco: Virginia is the most popular type used in pipe tobacco. As it is mild in nature and has the highest level of sugar which gives a light taste after blending e.g. Dunhill, Rattray, Marlin Flake.
The tobacco factory is a magnificent and well-ventilated building. The cured leaves are spread out on the floor in a lightly compressed mass; they are too dry for immediate use. Bundles of tobacco are separated and put in steam-heated chambers in which the temperature is raised to anything between 120°F and 160°F. Then the stalks and midribs are removed by hand or machine. The stripped leaves are left in ordinary heaps for about 24 hours during which they become thoroughly impregnated with additional moisture which renders them supple and usable.
The blending of various mixtures is in the hands of experts who know the exact proportion in which stronger tobaccos like Latakia and Perique should be blended with lighter tobacco.
When different brands have been made up, the leaves are placed in a machine that compresses them in the form of a hard cake. They are then shredded finely or coarsely with knives or shredding machines. Any excess moisture is removed by panning or stoving, a different process that brings out aroma. After panning tobacco is spread out evenly on trays to enable it to cool down to the temperature of air following which tests are carried out to ensure that the moisture content does not exceed the legal limit of 32%.
Most of today's popular pipe mixtures are composed almost entirely of Empire tobacco, the Rhodesian leaves being mainly flavoured.
Cigarette Tobacco: In the manufacture of cigarettes Virginian separately or in carefully blended mixtures. As in pipe tobacco, bundles from warehouses are received and stripped of midribs by machine or hands. The leaves then go to a machine that cuts them into fine shreds. Excessive moisture is removed from the tobacco and also the impurities. The tobacco is left for a day or two to the mature following which it goes to a cigarette manufacturing machine.
The papers for the cigarettes are unloaded from a disc and enter the machine and receive the tobacco flowing in a constant stream. Paper and tobacco move together. The paper is rolled around the tobacco and gummed at the end. The continuous tube of cigarette then runs beneath knives which cut it into cigarettes of required lengths and stock them neatly.
The cigarettes are not packed immediately but are left to dry for 24 hours. The machines used for packing are equally ingenious as those which make cigarettes. So human is this equipment that a carton or packet incompletely filled is automatically rejected. The tins if required for export are vacuum sealed.
Burley: It is one of the popular varieties of tobacco, and contains no sugar. Therefore it is dry and has a full aroma. It easily absorbs flavourings and is used in many aromatic flavours. It bums slowly e.g. are
Blue Edge Worth
Old English
Half and Half
Danish Mcbaren
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