Цвіт тютюну

The genus Nicotiana consists of herbaceous plants and shrubs in the family Solanaceae that are indigenous to the Americas, Australia, Southwestern Africa and the South Pacific. The genus takes its name from Jean Nicot, a French ambassador to Portugal who sent samples to the court of Catherine de' Medici in 1559 as a medicine.

N. tabacum is native to tropical and subtropical America and is believed to be a hybrid of Nicotiana sylvestris, N. tomentosiformis, and possibly N. otophora. Its scented inflorescences are multi-branched panicles. The coronet is white, pink or red, and the corolla tube is greenish-cream, pink or red. The flowers of N. sylvestris are tubular and white. Several Nicotiana species are grown as ornamental plants, often under the name of flowering tobacco.

The tobacco flower is removed in a step called topping, done when the pink flowers develop and before the leaves are systematically harvested. In the mature plant, 5% of the total nicotine is in the flowers, against 64% in the leaves.

Caryophyllene was the predominant compound in the headspace of the flowers of three tobacco lines and a major component in the fourth. N. sylvestris and N. tomentosiformis, which are putative progenitors of tobacco, yielded several compounds also found in tobacco flower headspace. The total volatile yield of the flowers of five other Nicotiana species ranged from 88 ppb for N. rustica to 2424 ppb for N. sylvestris. In the flower concrete with a very strong green odor and slight floral and honey-like undertones, some odor-impact components might include linalool, linalyl acetate, solanone, limonene and syringaldehyde. In the N. glutinosa flower concrete, the diterpene alcohol sclareol was the major diterpene, at 25.9% of the total ion current.

In tobacco leaves from Korea, the USA, Greece and Turkey, solanone was the most abundant essential-oil compound analysed, whatever the variety and locality. Solanone has the formula C₁₃H₂₂O. Megastigmatrienone is the key flavor compound in tobacco, whose aroma is due to different volatile compounds. Tobacco absolute from the leaves has a rich, warm woody aroma recalling fine pipe tobacco, with leathery nuances.

Explore all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

Related: Apricot Blossom · Banksia Australian · Heather · Meadowsweet · Orange Blossom · Orchid Pink Leopard · Safflower · Tangerine Blossom