A bulk curing experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of air flow reduction in the bulk barn from color fixing stage in the chemical properties of cured leaves, The air flow was controlled by reducing air velocity of a blower from 0.3m/sec t...
A bulk curing experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of air flow reduction in the bulk barn from color fixing stage in the chemical properties of cured leaves, The air flow was controlled by reducing air velocity of a blower from 0.3m/sec to 0.2m/sec using a boltage regulator(Slidac). The bulk curing before color fixing stage was processed in the conventional curing method. Reduction of air circulation in bulk barn did not affected so much on change of the contents of the main chemical components in cured leaved, such as nicotine, total sugar, total nitrogen, petroleum ether extract, and organic acids. Only a slight increase in essential oil contents, such as solanone, damascenone, damascone, $\beta$-ionone, and megastigmatrienone isomer, could be observed in leaves cured in the reduced air flow.