Abstract: In order to investigate the variation of intrinsic quality of over-dried cut tobacco produced in start and finish stags of thin plate drying process,the routine chemical components,polyphenolic compounds,pH value of over-dried cut tobacco with different moisture contents were determined,the obtained data were processed with cluster analysis.Meanwhile,sensory evaluation was conducted.The results showed that the chemistry and sensory quality of over-dried cut tobacco with the moisture content ranged from 9.00% to 12.50% did not obviously differ from those of normal dried cut tobacco,while those of cut tobacco with the moisture content less than 9.00% changed significantly.Therefore,the moisture content of 9.00% can be considered as the critical point of intrinsic quality variation of over-dried cut tobacco.