2. Tobacco
• Botanical name:- Nicotiana spp.
• Family:- Solanaceae
• Economic Part Used:- Leaves
• Vernacular name :- Tambaku (in Hindi)
• Chromosome no :- 2n=48
• Tobacco ,derived from N.tobacum and N.rustica is one of the American
gifts to the people of old world.
• In pre-Coloumbian times ,American Indians used tobacco in much the
same way as it is used today and believed that it possesed medicinal
virtues.
• Tobacco was used in their religious ceremonies ,such as the smoking of ‘the
pipe of peace.’
3. • Centre of Origin :- Among the numerous species, N.tobacum is the
most important one originated in tropical America. N.rustica is the
native of Mexico and Texas.
• N.tobacum is by far the most important , occupying nearly 90 percent
of the world’s acreage and is largely used in cigarettes , cigar or even
the cheerot industries owing to its low nicotine content (4-6 percent).
• N.rustica , on the other hand, is preferred for hookah smoking ,
chewing and for sniffing
• Tobacco quality depends very much on the climatic conditions, soil
type ,variety and curing.
4. • Major producers:- China is the leading producer,producing about 3.2
million tones whereas India ranks second (875000 tonnes) followed
closely by Brazil(810550 tonnes).
• Major tobacco producing Indian states :- Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
UttarPradesh, Karnataka , West Bengal, Tamil Nadu ,Orissa and Bihar.
• Major Exporters :- Brazil ,the US ,India, Turkey ,Malawi ,China and
Italy.
• Major Importers :- China ,Belgium, Russia , Germany , Poland
,Indonesia and other far eastern countries.
6. MORPHOLOGY OF PLANTS
Nicotiana tobacum (Smoking tobacco)
• It is highly polymorphic and exhibits a large number of
varieties,forms and suspected hybrids.
• It is a stout ,sticky ,annual herb ,attaining a height of about 1.2-
2.7m when not topped.
• It rarely assumes a shrubby appearance due to the
development of lateral branches near ground.
• Leaves are large(Often 60cm long and 25cm
broad),alternate,ovate or oblong-lanceolate , usually sessile
with clasping leaf bases.
• Glandular hairs on the surface of the leaves secrete gums and
oils which makes the surface sticky.
7. • The flowers are white pinkish , tubular and borne in a terminal
panicle.
• The fruits is a two valved ovoid capsule (sometimes four valved) With
numerous ,tiny ,light coloured , oval to spherical seeds with reticulate
markings.
8.
9. Nicotiana rustica (wild tobacco)
• It is a much smaller plant about 0.6-1.2m in height and grows under
a relatively rigorous climate ,usually developing suckers (Lateral
shoots)
• The leaves are short but thick,broadly oval and petiolate with
somewhat uneven (puckered) surface.
• The flowers are companulate and pale ,yellow to green in colour.
• It contains very high nicotine content (upto 9 times) than that of any
other species of Nicotiana.
10.
11. HEALTH HAZARDS OF TOBACCO
• The contention that smoking is a menace to health is old as the use of
tobacco.
• Tobacco tar a constituent of tobacco smoke , is suspected of causing lung
cancer.
• A special advisory committee appointed by the US Surgeon General in 1964
revealed that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer and that the risk of
developing the disease increases with the number of cigarette smoked per
day.
• Cigarette smokers are particularly prone to cancer of the
Larynx,Oesophagus and bladder , coronary artery disease and chronic
bronchitis.
• The committee further pointed out that cigar smoking and Pipe smoking
are less harmful , although the latter may lead to lip cancer.
