The authors previously reported a significant negative correlation between visual leaf quality and polyphenol content in a flue-cured tobacco population. This same population was subjected to a restricted selection index where plants with cured-leaf chlorogenic acid contents below 0.5% were selected for further testing provided their Grade Index was higher than 25. Twelve selected plants were selfed and their progeny grown in single rows in 1993 with Speight G 28 as the check cultivar. Five plants were sampled in each of the 13 rows. Leaf disks from mid-stalk leaves were freeze-dried and the same leaves then harvested for flue-curing. Cured leaves were assigned a Grade Index score and both the freeze-dried and cured tobaccos were analyzed for chlorogenic acid and rutin contents. There was little relationship between freeze-dried green leaf and cured-leaf values for chlorogenic acid (r2 = 0.21). Some values increased with curing, some decreased, but there was a tendency for family members to move in the same direction. The relationship between cured-leaf chlorogenic acid levels and Grade Index scores was much lower than in the previous generation (r2 = 0.16 in 1993 vs. 0.71 in 1991). The net effect of imposing the restricted selection index on the population was to virtually eliminate all individuals with poor cured-leaf quality and very low polyphenol levels. The mean Grade Index for all selections in 1993 was 67 compared with 47 in 1991 and the mean chlorogenic acid level in 1993 was 0.77% compared with 0.66% in 1991. Twenty plants with the lowest levels of polyphenols were intercrossed to form the basis for further selection.