CHANGES IN BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY DURING ARTIFICIAL FERMENTATION OF FLUE-CURED TOBACCO1

Abstract Bacteria accounted for the majority of microorganisms on both artificially fermented and non-fermented tobacco leaves. Fermentation decreased the number of species present as well as the total number of microorganisms present on leaves of flue-cured tobacco compared to control leaves. After eight days of fermentation, populations of bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi were reduced by 52.8%, 9.4%, 79.8%, respectively, and total microorganism counts were reduced 55.7% relative to non-fermented controls. After 18 days, counts of bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, were reduced 37.0%, 100%, 68.5%, and total microorganism counts were 42.1% below non-fermented leaves. In contrast, the activities of the enzymes peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, proteinase, and α-amylase increased significantly during fermentation. On day eight, activities of these enzymes increased 197%, 31%, 232% and 164%, respectively, compared with non-fermented control leaves. At the end of the artificial fermentation, enzyme activities we...