Chemical composition of Oriental tobacco of Krumovgrad ecotype in relation to quality and combustibility
Violeta Nikolova
, Nikolay Nikolov
, Radka Bozhinova
, Venelina Popova
Abstract: Oriental tobaccos of Krumovgrad ecotype are the most widely produced and one of the highest-quality tobaccos grown in Bulgaria. They have the characteristics of a true Basma type and are highly regarded for their rich, pungent flavor and good burning properties. The main objectives of the current study were: i) to investigate the chemical composition of Oriental tobaccos of Krumovgrad ecotype produced in different micro regions in Bulgaria, with the view of assessing their quality and applicability as a raw material in smoking products; and ii) to arrange the investigated tobaccos in groups according to their chemical indices and combustibility. The investigation was carried out in 2022, with samples of cured tobacco leaves from thirteen micro regions in three production regions in Southwestern Bulgaria. The concentrations of macroelements (K, Ca and Mg) and trace elements (Cd, Ni, Mn, Zn, and Cu) in Bulgarian Oriental tobacco of Krumovgrad ecotype differed significantly between the studied regions and micro regions. The main chemical indicators of the investigated tobaccos also showed variation, depending on the micro region of production: nicotine, 0.65-1.83%; reducing sugars, 13.30-21.20%; total nitrogen, 1.33-1.86%; ash, 7.95-11.70%; chlorine, 0.22-0.75%; as well as smoke tar (15.69-23.59 mg/cig) and nicotine (0.60-1.64 mg/cig). The applied hierarchical cluster analysis classified the tobaccos into two main clusters based on the measured chemical indicators. Tobacco combustibility, one of the key quality indicators, was evaluated by three combustibility indices, taking into account the concentration of inorganic elements in the cured leaves. The results spoke in favor of the good burning potential of Bulgarian Oriental tobacco of Krumovgrad ecotype. The ranking of tobaccos, based on the assessment of their combustibility, distinguished with the best burning properties those from Ablanitsa (region Nevrokop) and Dolno Osenovo (Gorna Gjumaya). The results obtained in the study can be used in evaluating the quality of tobacco as a raw material for smoking products, with a view to their optimal usability in tobacco blending.
Keywords: leaf quality; mineral elements; nicotine; Oriental tobacco; reducing sugars; tobacco combustibility
Citation: Nikolova, V., Nikolov, N., Bozhinova, R. & Popova, V. (2026). Chemical composition of Oriental tobacco of Krumovgrad ecotype in relation to quality and combustibility. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 32(2), 344–355
| References: (click to open/close) | Ali, H., Khan, E. & Ilahi, I. (2019). Environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology of hazardous heavy metals: Environmental persistence, toxicity, and bioaccumulation. Journal of Chemistry. Article ID: 6730305.
Banožić, M., Jokić, S., Ačkar, Đ., Blažić, M. & Šubarić, D. (2020). Carbohydrates - key players in tobacco aroma formation and quality determination. Molecules, 25(7), 1734.
Bozhinova, R., Nikolova, V. & Nikolov, N. (2023). Investigation on the mineral composition and burning properties of oriental tobacco of Krumovgrad ecotype. Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science Agrochemisty and Ecology, 57(1), 35 - 44 (Bg).
Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS) (1988). BDS 15836:1988 Tobacco and Tobacco Products. Methods of Total Nitrogen Determination. https://bds-bg.org/en/project/show/bds:proj:20100.
Camlica, M. & Yaldiz, G. (2021). Analyses and evaluation of the main chemical components in different tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) genotypes. Grasas y Aceites, 72(1), e389 - e389.
Darvishzadeh, R., Alavi, S. R. & Sarafi, A. (2011). Genetic variability for chlorine concentration in oriental tobacco genotypes. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 57(2), 167 - 177.
Djordjevic, M. V. & Doran, K. A. (2009). Nicotine content and delivery across tobacco products. In: Nicotine Psychopharmacology, Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, 192. Henningfield, J. E., London, E. D. & Pogun, S. (Eds.). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 61 - 82.
Ekren, S. (2018). The examination of the chemical compounds of Aegean region tobacco leaves at different priming stages in Turkey. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 27(1), 313 - 319.
Gilchrist, S. N. (1999). Field practices. In: Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology. Davis, D. & Nielsen, M. (Eds.), Blackwell Science, Cambridge, 154 - 163.
Golia, E. E., Dimirkou, A. & Mitsios, I. K. (2009). Heavy-metal concentration in tobacco leaves in relation to their available soil fractions. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 40(1), 106 - 120.
Gransee, A. & Führs, H. (2013). Magnesium mobility in soils as a challenge for soil and plant analysis, magnesium fertilization and root uptake under adverse growth conditions. Plant and Soil, 368, 5 - 21.
Gueorgiev, S. & Popova, V. (1999). Developing a system for prognosis of tar and nicotine in cigarette smoke. Biotechnology and Biotechnological Equipment, 1, 61 - 65.
Huang, Y., Du, G., Ma, Y. & Zhou, J. (2021). Predicting heavy metals in dark sun-cured tobacco by near-infrared spectroscopy modeling based on the optimized variable selections. Industrial Crops and Products, 172, 114003.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (1999). ISO 2817:1999 Tobacco and Tobacco Products. Determination of Silicated Residues Insoluble in Hydrochloric Acid. https://www.iso.org/standard/22453.html.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (2003). ISO 15152:2003 Tobacco. Determination of the Content of To¬tal Alkaloids as Nicotine – Continuous-flow Analysis Method. https://www.iso.org/standard/26506.html.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (2003). ISO 15154:2003 Tobacco. Determination of the Content of Reducing Carbohydrates – Continuous-flow Analysis Method. https://www.iso.org/standard/26507.html.
Ivanov, N. G., Gyuzelev, L. & Boneva, A. (1973). The combustibility of tobacco. Contributions to Tobacco & Nicotine Research, 7(2), 111 - 116.
Jebet, A., Kibet, J. K., Kinyanjui, T. & Nyamori, V. O. (2018). Environmental inhalants from tobacco burning: tar and particulate emissions. Scientific African, 1, e00004.
Jordanoska, B., Stafilov, T. & Pelivanoska, V. (2018). Accumulation and availability of trace elements from soil into oriental tobacco grown in Macedonia. Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 17(6), 1491 - 1500.
Karaivazoglou, N. A., Papakosta, D. K. & Divanidis, S. (2005). Effect of chloride in irrigation water and form of nitrogen fertilizer on Virginia (flue-cured) tobacco. Field Crops Research, 92(1), 61 - 74.
Karim, H. R. & Mohammad, M. T. (2020). Interaction effect of primings and tobacco genotypes on some chemical constituents. Journal of Zankoy Sulaimani, Part-A-, Pure and Applied Sciences, 22(2), 89 - 98.
Kinay, A., Yilmaz, G. & Kandemir, N. (2020). Yield and quality properties of some oriental tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) hybrids. Genetika, 52(2), 735 - 750.
Kirkova, S. & Dyulgerski, Y. (2015). Influence of chemical composition on burn free of Burley tobacco. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21(2), 333 - 335.
Kozak, K. & Antosiewicz, D. M. (2023). Tobacco as an efficient metal accumulator. Biometals, 36, 351–370.
Kurt, D. (2021). Impacts of environmental variations on quality and chemical contents of oriental tobacco. Contributions to Tobacco & Nicotine Research, 30(1), 50 - 62.
Kurup, C. K. R. & Sastry, A. S. (1962). Influence of soil and irrigation water on the chemical composition and quality of cigar tobacco. Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science, 10(2), 99 - 108.
Kurup, C. K. R., Sastry, A. S. & Rao, D. S. (1962). Further studies on the influence of soil and irrigation water on the chemical composition and quality of cigar tobacco. Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science, 10(4), 237 - 244.
Lee, P. N. (2018). Tar level of cigarettes smoked and risk of smoking-related diseases. Inhalation Toxicology, 30(1), 5 - 18.
Leffingwell, J. C. (1999). Leaf chemistry - basic chemical constituents of tobacco leaf and differences among tobacco types. In: Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology. Davis, D. & Nielsen, M. (Eds.), Blackwell Science, Cambridge, 265 - 284.
Mendell, S., Bourlas, E. C. & DeBardeleben, M. Z. (1984). Factors influencing tobacco leaf quality: an Investigation of the literature. Contributions to Tobacco & Nicotine Research, 12(3), 153 - 167.
Pang, T., Yuan, Z., Dai, Y., Wang, C., Yang, J., Peng, L. & Xu, G. (2007). Identification and determination of glycosides in tobacco leaves by liquid chromatography with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Journal of Separation Science, 30, 289 - 296.
Pelivanoska, V., Jordanoska, B. & Hristovski, M. (2014). Correlation between the content of heavy metals in soil and tobacco from some municipalities of Skopje production region. Tobacco, 64(1-6), 46 - 55.
Peterson, L. A. & Tibbitts, T. W. (1963). Chemical composition of tobacco in relation to leaf bum. Agronomy Journal, 55, 114 - 117.
Popova, V., Drachev, D. & Nikolova, V. (2006). Investigation on the burning properties of Burley tobacco grown in different regions in Bulgaria. Tobacco, 56(7-8), 159 - 164.
Radojičić, V., Djulančić, N. & Srbinoska, M. (2015). Influence of mineral matter content on static burning rate of Virginia tobacco from different production areas in Serbia. Industrial Crops and Products, 67(3), 381 - 386.
Roemer, E., Schorp, M. K., Piadé, J.-J., Seeman, J. I., Leyden, D. E. & Haussmann, H. J. (2012). Scientific assessment of the use of sugars as cigarette tobacco ingredients: A review of published and other publicly available studies. Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 42, 244 - 278.
Şahin, O. & Ekren, S. (2022). Identification of high nicotine oriental tobacco lines. MAS Journal of Applied Sciences, 7(4), 959 - 974.
Sastry, A. S. & Kurup, C. K. R. (1958). Chemical evaluation of the burning quality of cheroot tobacco. Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research, 17B, 499 - 504.
Stoilova, A. (2008). Tobacco mineral content and smoking properties. In: Science in globalization, Scientific conference, Kardzhali, Bulgaria, 210 - 215 (Bg).
Tang, Z., Chen, L., Chen, Z., Fu, Y., Sun, X., Wang, B. & Xia, T. (2020). Climatic factors determine the yield and quality of Honghe flue-cured tobacco. Scientific Reports, 10, 19868.
Tanov, E., Lukanov, K., Miljanchev, I., Penchev, P., Andonov, A. & Konarev, A. (1978). District-division, concentration and specialisation of tobacco-cultivation and tobacco-processing in Bugaria. Hristo G. Danov, Plovdiv (Bg).
Tassew, Z. & Chandravanshi, B. S. (2015). Levels of nicotine in Ethiopian tobacco leaves. SpringerPlus, 4, 1 - 6.
Taylor, S. L., Payton, M. E. & Raun, W. R. (1999). Relationship between mean yield, coefficient of variation, mean square error, and plot size in wheat field experiments. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 30(9-10), 1439 - 1447.
Tepecik, M. & Ongun, A. (2020). Determination of some quality parameters of oriental type tobacco based on harvest times. Turkish Journal of Agricultural Research, 7(2), 156 - 162.
Timov, A., Veselinov, M., Atanasov, K. & Dimitrov, T. (1974). Oriental tobacco in Bulgaria. Publishing house of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia (Bg).
Trajkoski, J., Mitreski, M., Pelivanoska, V., Zdraveska, N. & Mavroski, R. (2015). Chemical properties of tobacco in some oriental varieties from the type Prilep. Tobacco, 65(7-12), 80 - 87.
Tsaliki, E., Moysiadis, T., Toumpas, E., Kalivas, A., Panoras, I. & Grigoriadis, I. (2023). Evaluation of Greek tobacco varieties (Nicotiana tabacum L.) grown in different regions οf Greece. Agriculture, 13(7), 1394.
Volodarskiy, N. I. (1971). Mineral Nutrition of Tobacco. In: Physiology of Agricultural Plants. Rubin, B. A. (Ed.), Moskow University, Moskow, 196 - 243 (Ru).
Ward, J. H. (1963). Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 58, 236 - 244.
Yancheva, D. (2002). Mineral composition of the oriental tobacco leaves depending on the nitrogen fertilizer rate. In: Quality and efficiency of the tobacco production, treatment and processing, The Second Balkan Scientific Conference, Plovdiv, September, 2002, 162 - 166 (Bg).
Zahedi, R. & Moghaddam, S. (2000). Study of potassium to chlorine ratio effect on combustibility of tobacco leaf. Bull. Spec. CORESTA Congress, Lisbon, 212.
Zaprjanova, P. & Hristozova, G. (2018). Microelement content of oriental tobacco varieties grown under the same agroecological conditions. Agricultural Sciences, 10(23), 41 - 47.
Zilkey, B. F., Court, W. A., Binns, M. R. & Basrur, P. K. (1982). Chemical Studies on Canadian tobacco and tobacco smoke. 1. Tobacco, tobacco sheet, and cigarette smoke. Chemical analysis on various treatments of bright and Burley tobacco. Tobacco International, 184, 83 - 89. |
|
| Date published: 2026-04-29
Download full text 
