What do we smoke?
June 21st, 2016
The world of plants is infinitely diverse. Generally, plants of the same family have a lot of varieties.
Tobacco belongs to the Solanaceae, just like our tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, which have so many species here!
Indeed, it was found out that tobacco has several hundred species! However, only two of them have an industrial value: Nikotiana tabacum, which includes all types of yellow tobacco and Nikotiana rustica – the common makhorka is so beautifully called.
Russian climate for this thermophilic culture is too cool, except maybe for the southern regions, therefore, the present moment tobacco and makhorka are mainly cultivated in Asian countries, Latin America, the USA and Bulgaria.
Makhorka is mainly cultivated in India, Poland and Hungary.
It is contatined 1 – 10% of nicotine and from 15 – 20% of the organic acid in the dry leaves of raw material for the preparation of snuffing and smoking of makhorka. The stalks of makhorka are used for citric acid production. Dried tobacco leaves are rich in 1 – 3.7% nicotine, 0.1 – 1.37% of essential oils, 4 – 7% of tar.
TYPES OF TOBACCO
Three types of tobacco – Virginia, Burley and Oriental or East are widely used.
Tobacco “Virginia” (flue-cured tobacco) is often referred to as light one, because its dried leaves get bright shades from golden yellow to bright orange.
Raw material is dried with hot air in special facilities during a week. This tobacco differentiates with a light aroma and vividly expressed taste. The most extensive plantations of “Virginia” are situated in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Tanzania and in the United States.
The color of “Burley” tobacco is from light to dark brown. Unlike Virginia, “Burley” id dried in the open air in the shade for about two months.
During this time, tobacco loses almost all natural sugar and gains a strong taste that resembles the taste of cigars. Basically, “Burley” is grown in Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Malawi and in the United States.
Oriental tobacco has a particularly strong flavor. Its small leaves, which are collected one by one, as in “Virginia” tobacco, are dried in the open air in the sun
Oriental sort is mostly grown in Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia and Turkey.
Many skeptics would say that there is nothing to smoke in modern cigarettes, as compared with those that were thirty years ago.
The more surprising it is to hear all sorts of “caution” and witness “scary” images that can destroy the aesthetic pleasure of smoking, especially of our lovely ladies.