RAW TOBACCO
SUN-CURED TOBACCO
* 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.
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SUN-CURED TOBACCO
In sun-curing the source of energy is solar-heat.
Sun curing is commonly adopted in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,
Bombay, Bihar, U.P., Punjab and West Bengal.
In this method of curing Whole plant is strung on string or rack
(as in case of chewing and cigar tobacco in Tamil Nadu) or Whole
plant is spread on the ground (as in case of bidi tobacco in Bombay,
hookah and chewing tobacco in U.P. and Punjab) or Otherwise
primed leaves or separated leaves with pieces of stalks are tied into
bundles and strung on ropes (as in case of Natu tobacco in Andhra
Pradesh) or These leaves are spread on the ground (as in case of
chewing tobacco in U.P. and hookah tobacco in W. Bengal).
The method differs from place to place and type to type of tobacco
viz. cigar and chewing tobacco in Andhra Pradesh take about 15
to 20 days and Natu tobacco takes around 45 to 60 days for curing.
The leaves are separated from the stalk after the plants are initially
wilted in the field and the leaves are then strung on bamboo poles
for curing in the sun.
The hookah and chewing tobacco in Bihar are harvested and left in
the field itself upto 4 to 6 days for drying after which they are
heaped for two days.
Again they are spread and dried for 6 days then heaped for two
days and spread thereafter upto 4 days for drying.
Thus after 45 days the leaves attain dark brown colour after
which they are stripped and tied into bundles of 25 to 30 leaves
for fermenting in bulks.
A further classification of this kind of curing is :
- Light Air-cured tobacco , to which Burley and Maryland tobacco belong,
used for cigarettes and rolling tobacco.
- Dark Air-cured tobacco, to which Havana and Paraguay tobacco belong,
of much stronger taste, used for cigars and chewing
tobacco.
