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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Cincinnati, OH, United States, 2011/07/19 - In 2000, the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization estimated that there are 2298.8, 595.4 and 520.7 thousand tons of tobacco produced in China, India and Brazil, respectively - StelterBrinck.com.
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While tobacco is a high volume crop which has been produced for a long time, most of the curing of tobacco is still done the age-old way.
Tobacco processing is done in very few steps; however, each step takes weeks and sometimes, months. The tobacco is cultivated and harvested annually. Tobacco can be harvested by either cutting the stalk off at the grown, or by harvesting individual leaves. After the plant/leaves are extracted, they are hung in a dry. This drying process is called the “curing process”; it is when the leaves undergo curing that they begin to develop their flavor and taste. There are several methods of curing, such as: air curing, fire curing, flue curing, and sun curing. After the curing process, the product is prepared for production.
Some products made with tobacco require tobacco extracts, such as cigarettes. When making cigarettes, the paper must be flavored using tobacco extracts or else the taste will be inferior. In order to generate these extracts, the tobacco is first processed with water and alcohol. The processed extract is then spray dried to provide a more concentrated tobacco extract.
In order to create the “smooth” smoke taste that tobacco is known for, the spray driers used indirect fired process air heaters as their heat source. The tobacco flavor remains “pure” because indirect fired air heaters do not contaminate the airstream with the by-products of combustion.
After the tobacco is spray dried, it is then applied to cigarette paper. This paper is then sent to production where it is wrapped around the tobacco mix, found inside cigarettes.
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