The most popular curing process is identified as flue-curing. Applied mostly in the production of cigarettes, the most popular type of flue-cured tobacco is Virginia. Virginia tobacco is as well well-known as ‘bright tobacco’ as the heat-drying process provides the leaves a bright colour.
The temperature of the heater is little by little increased until the leaves and stems are totally dehydrated. Flue-curing completes in about a week and fixes the natural sugar of the leaf, which has a high sugar and a medium-to-high nicotine content.
Air-cured tobacco is usually cured in buildings with a roof, but with open sides. This enables air to freely circulate. The target of air-curing is the well timed removal of moisture from leaves. Air-curing requires four to eight weeks: if cured too quickly, the leaf will become spotted, if cured too slowly, the leaf will spoil.
Generally, this type of tobacco is divided into dark air-cured and light air-cured tobacco. Burley is the second most famous tobacco worldwide. Burley, also recognized as White Burley tobacco, is mostly used to make tobacco product such as cigarettes and aromatic blends, while dark air-cured tobaccos are mostly used in the manufacturing of chewing tobacco and snuff.
Burley is a bit smaller plant than the flue-cured Virginia type, but with equally large leaves. Tobacco leaves are dehydrated in a natural way or ‘air-cured’. This provides the leaves a light brown colour and very low sugar content.
All fire-cured tobaccos are exposed to wood smoke in order to dry out the leaves.
Fire-cured tobacco has usually dark colour. This type of tobacco is used mainly for pipe tobacco blends, snuff and chewing tobacco. It has a low sugar but high nicotine content. Fire curing requires an enclosed barn just like that used for flue-curing. Small fires are produced on the floor, and the leaves cure in a smoke-laden environment. While flue-curing requires approximately a week, fire curing, using far lower temperatures, may get from a few days up to 4 weeks.
Fire-cured tobacco is dehydrated with low-burning wood fires on the floors of closed curing barns. Fire-cured tobacco is a strong variety of tobacco used as a condimental for pipe mixtures, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff and strong-tasting cigars.
A small amount of tobacco is sun-cured. Leaves are subjected to the sun to get rid of their moisture before being air-cured to finish the process.
Oriental tobacco possesses high aroma from small leaves. This tobacco has low sugar and nicotine content.
Oriental tobacco is considered as high priced to grow by many tobacco companies.
Oriental tobaccos are kept in bales and permitted to ferment. After storage, this type of tobacco is moistened. Pure – Turkish cigarettes consist of 100% unblended Oriental tobacco. Blended Oriental tobacco is mainly used in cigarettes, cigars, pipe, snuff or chewing tobacco.