Abstract: In order to investigate the effects of oxygen concentrations on tobacco alcoholization quality in Wuhan City, tobacco leaves were stored under five different oxygen concentrations （below 2%, 2%~6%, 6%~10%, 10%~15% and 21%）. The results showed that the sensory quality of tobacco leaves improved after one year of alcoholization, and it turned out that the sensory quality of tobacco leaves stored under the condition of 10%~15% oxygen concentration was the best. What’s more, the sensory quality of tobacco leaves was positively correlated with curing oxygen concentration. In terms of physical and chemical quality, there were no significant differences in the contents of total sugar, reducing sugar, total nitrogen and nicotine among different treatment groups, while the content of plastid pigment and polyphenol changed the fastest at oxygen concentration of 10%~15%, indicating that the tobacco alcoholization rate was the fastest under this oxygen concentration. Therefore, as for tobacco alcoholization in Wuhan, the 10%~15% oxygen concentration in the alcoholization stage of four-stage controlled atmosphere storage was conducive, since under this oxygen concentration, the conversion rate of tobacco chemical components was faster, and the sensory quality of tobacco leaves was higher in the same time.

Key words: oxygen concentration, tobacco, alcoholization