Skip to main content
CORESTA Meeting, Agronomy/Phytopathology, 2021, Online, AP 21

Impact of genotype and management on nicotine concentration in Burley tobacco

VANN M.C.; MACHACEK J.L.; CHEEK J.A.; SHORT M.M.; WHITLEY D.S.
North Carolina State University, Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Raleigh, NC, U.S.A.

Proposed standards from the US-FDA suggest that nicotine should be lowered to non-addictive concentrations in cigarettes (0.3 to 0.5 mg g-1). One such method for lowering nicotine in finished products is to source leaf material with low concentrations of the compound. To date, research focused on lowering nicotine in Burley tobacco has not been conducted in North Carolina. The purpose of our study was to pair four Burley tobacco genotypes (HB4488PLC, TN90LC, ITB5101LA, and MSTN90LA) with two production programs (conventional production recommendations and low nicotine production recommendations). Cured leaf yield and quality were highest when the conventional production program was utilized (+476 kg ha-1 and +3 indices points, respectively). The main effect of genotype was also significant for yield (HB4488PLC > ITB5101LA = TN90LC = MSTN90LC) and quality (HB4488PLC = ITB5101LA = TN90LC > MSTN90LC). Nicotine concentration in composite cured leaf samples was influenced by the interaction of genotype and management program. Nicotine was highest when TN90LC and HB4488PLC were produced under conventional management programs (49.55 and 35.80 mg g-1, respectively), and declined in low nicotine management programs (TN90LC = 11.76 mg g-1 and HB4488PLC = 10.69 mg g-1). The management program did not affect the nicotine concentration measured in MSTN90LC or ITB5101LC (0.51 to 4.14 mg g-1). Our preliminary results indicate that low nicotine management programs can reduce cured leaf nicotine concentration in genotypes with normal nicotine levels; however, these practices may not have an impact when paired with low nicotine genotypes. In addition, these practices are likely to reduce cured leaf yield and quality – which may compromise grower profitability and economic sustainability. Additional research will be conducted to further investigate these findings in future field seasons.