Effects of Microwave Treatment on Tobacco Pest Control and Loosening

The insecticidal efficiency, loosening, comprehensive processing quality, and smoking quality of sliced tobacco block treated with microwave were investigated.The results showed that:1) the insecticidal efficiency of microwave treatment could be up to 100% when the temperature of tobacco was above 65℃;2) over 90% of three types of tobacco was loosened when their temperature was in the range of 40-45℃;3) the smoking quality of lower grade tobacco and cigarettes of economical brands was improved to a certain extent by microwave treatment;and 4) the comprehensive processing quality of tobacco treated with microwave was significantly improved in the loosening and conditioning process step.