Abstract: To address the problems of insufficient aroma, heavy off-flavors of cigar tobacco leaves from production area of Laifeng, Hubei Province, four compound enzymes (enzyme A, enzyme B, enzyme C, enzyme D) were used as treatment agents with three concentration gradients (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%). The filler tobacco leaves were sprayed with the enzymes, and the improvement effect of compound enzymes on cigar tobacco quality was investigated through physical and chemical index detection (petroleum ether extract, tobacco nicotine, mainstream smoke nicotine, aroma components) and sensory evaluation. The results showed that compared with the blank control (CK), all enzyme treatment groups increased the content of petroleum ether extract in tobacco leaves (increase range of 21.7%~120.0%), among which the 0.1% enzyme C group had the highest content (13.2%); the 0.3% enzyme C group had the lowest tobacco nicotine content (22.89 mg/g), which was 27.8% lower than that of CK; the mainstream smoke nicotine reduction was most significant in the 0.2% enzyme C group (from 1.19 mg/stick to 0.07 mg/stick, a reduction of 94.1%); the relative content of total aroma substances in mainstream smoke was highest in the 0.3% enzyme A group (12.9%, an increase of 316% compared to CK); in the sensory evaluation, the total score of the 0.3% enzyme A group reached 83 points, 8 points higher than that of CK (75 points). The optimal improvement scheme screened in this study was 0.3% enzyme A group, which could effectively improve the industrial usability of cigar tobacco leaves in Laifeng production area and provided technical support for the quality improvement of Chinese-style cigar raw materials.

Key words: cigar tobacco leaf, compound enzyme preparation, mainstream smoke, quality characteristics, Laifeng production area in Hubei Province