Removal of the developing inflorescence (topping) in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacumL.) production will result in higher leaf yield and increased alkaloid content. Unfortunately, topping will remove axillary bud (sucker) inhibition. To achieve the higher yields and alkaloid content growers must control the development of suckers through manual or chemical means. Because hand‐suckering is a menial task, the use of maleic hydrazide (MH) rapidly became the cultural practice to control sucker growth, but its use was severely questioned by the industry. The Regional Tobacco Growth Regulator Committee was established in 1963 to evaluate tobacco treated with various experimental chemical sucker‐controlling agents as alternatives to MH. Regional committee test data accumulated from 1963 through 1981 by federal and state researchers were used to compare cured leaf from MH‐treated plants with hand‐suckered plants, the control treatments. Yield and value per hectare were higher from the use of MH while dollars per 100 kg were the same for both kinds of treatments in both classes of tobacco. Tobacco leaf experts were able to visually differentiate between MH‐treated and hand‐suckered flue‐cured but not burley tobaccos. Chemical analyses indicated that percent total alkaloids and percent total ash were less in MH‐treated flue‐cured and burley tobaccos. Alkalinity of water soluble ash increased from MH treatment. Total volatile bases minus nicotine (as ammonia) decreased significantly in flue‐cured tobacco from MH treatment while the increase found in burley from MH treatment was not. Maleic hydrazide treatment significantly increased per cent reducing sugars in flue‐cured tobacco, but had no effect on percent total N in burley. Physical analyses indicated that values for filling capacity were significantly lower and equilibrium moisture content significantly higher in MH‐treated tobaccos.
The fate and stability of maleic hydrazide (MH) applied to Burley Tobacco and soil was examined. Four dosages of MH, from one-tenth to twice the recommended amount, were applied to tobacco at various stages of maturity. Residual quantities of MH in green and cured plants, as well as in soil, were determined by our derivatization-gas chromatography method. The effects of different application rates
To make mechanical leaf harvesting of burley tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) practical, the problem of physiological immaturity of leaves cured detached from the stalk must h,e solved. An ethylene releasing agent, 2‐chloroethyl‐phosphonic acid (CEPA), has been found to “ripen” plant leaves. The objective of this experiment was to determine if CEPA treatment before harvesting burley tobacco and curing it detached from the stalk alleviates the physiological immaturity of such tobacco. Ten cultivars and breeding lines were grown in a split‐split‐plot design with genotypes as whole plots, methods of curing as subplots, and CEPA vs no CEPA treatments as sub‐subplots. Two weeks after topping and 4 days before harvesting, CEPA at the rate of 150 Mg/ plant was applied according to the experimental design. After curing, yield and grade index were determined for each treatment. Samples were then drawn from the leaf web, ground, and analyzed for percent total nitrogen, percent α‐amino nitrogen, water‐soluble acids, pH, percent ash, percent K20, percent nicotine, and percent nornicotine. The method of curing significantly affected grade index, percent total nitrogen, percent a‐amino nitrogen, percent nicotine, and pH. CEPA treatment effects were statistically significant for percent total nitrogen, percent α‐amino nitrogen, and percent ash. The level of each of these constituents was significantly closer to that of stalkcured tobacco after leaves cured detached from the stalk had been treated with CEPA. CEPA‐treated Burley 37, Va 509, and 69‐517 cured detached had more tobacco graded usable by cigarette manufacturers than did tobacco with any other treatments. These results indicate that some important chemical constituents and physical characteristics are modified in a desirable direction by CEPA treatments. However, there may be detrimental effects, such as off‐flavor of the smoke, associated with CEPA treatments which would preclude using the chemical.
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