Effects of Temperature and Humidity on Amylase Activity in Flue-cured Tobacco during Curing

The effects of temperature and humidity on the amylase activity in flue-cured tobacco during curing were experimented.The results showed that:1) in the curing process, for leaves in a fresh state, there were two peaks on amylase activity curve, one at 36℃, when the amylase activity was the highest, another at 38℃;for leaves in awilted state, the amylase activity was highest at 38℃;for leaves in a minor curl state, the amylase activity increased with the increase of temperature, when the temperature was in the range of 37℃-40℃;2) when the temperature was at 38℃ and the difference between dry and wet bulb temperatures was in the range of 3℃-1.5℃(RH79%-89%), fresh leaves maintained higher amylase activity, after that the activity descended quickly with the increase of relative humidity.When the temperature was at 40℃, and the dry and wet bulb temperature difference was in the range of 3℃-2℃ (RH80%-86%), the amylase activity in wilted leaves was higher, it decreased slightly when the said temperature difference was less than 1.5℃;for leaves in a state of minor curl the amylase activity increased gradually with the rise of relative humidity.