Abstract
The moisture sorption capacity of tobacco seeds is decisive for their safe long-term storage; therefore, the analysis of the sorption isotherms, in a wide temperature and water activity range, is essential for seed quality maintenance in storage. In this study, the equilibrium sorption isotherms of tobacco (N. tabacumL.) seeds, “Kroumovgrad 90” variety of Oriental tobacco, were determined. The experimental data were obtained by the static gravimetric method at different temperatures and water activities. Sorption isotherms showed a typical Type II sigmoidal profile, with a significant hysteresis effect and a decrease of seed sorption capacity with the increase of temperature. The best fitting with tobacco seed sorption isotherms were the modified Chung-Pfost (desorption) and Oswin (adsorption) models. The monolayer moisture content, important for the safe storage of tobacco seeds, was also determined. The outcomes from the study might be of practical use in tobacco seed conditioning and storage design.
Highlights
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is an important cash crop in Bulgaria, the annual production has significantly dropped in the last decade, similar to the trends registered in other tobacco-producing European countries
The study demonstrated that tobacco seeds were less hygroscopic at higher temperatures, as their sorption capacity decreased with the increase of temperature throughout the water activity range
A distinct hysteresis effect was observed in the adsorption and desorption isotherms, which turned out to be less pronounced with the increase of temperature
Summary
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is an important cash crop in Bulgaria, the annual production has significantly dropped in the last decade, similar to the trends registered in other tobacco-producing European countries. The official statistics for the last crop year available registered about 6000 ha tobacco-harvested area in Bulgaria, producing about 8600 tons of cured tobacco leaf [1]. More than half of the harvested area (about 3200 ha), responsible for about 60% of the country leaf production, is assigned to the small-leaf, highly aromatic Oriental tobacco ( called Turkish tobacco). The tiny tobacco seeds, 10000-16000 units in a gram, constitute about 3.7% of the plant biomass in Oriental tobacco, providing an average yield of about 300 kg/ha [16, 17]
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