V. NIKOLOVA
Institute of Tobacco and Tobacco Products, BG - 4108 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
NIKOLOVA, V., 2004. Investigation on the leaf pigment modification during the curing process of flue-cured tobacco. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 341-345
The chemical and technological modifications are controlled indirectly during the curing process by the changes in the tobacco color depending on the pigment content. The water discharge mode justifies the run of their modification. The most significant changes in the pigment complex occur during the yellowing stage, which determine the tobacco color, getting fixed at the stage of the real curing. Investigated were the a-chlorophyll content, b-chlorophyll and carotenoids at different stages of the process - from the beginning to end. At the same time, the moisture content of three tobacco groups was determined - technically matured, technically immature and technically over mature. The purpose of the investigation was to study the relation between the content of the investigated pigments at different tobacco degrees of maturity and moisture content. Determined were the quantity dependence of the chlorophyll and the carotenoids on the moisture content. Regardless of the initial pigment content, their quantity goes down at the end of the process, but the carotenoids stay predominant to the chlorophyll resulting in the yellow and orange-yellow color of flue-cured tobacco.