RELATIONSHIP OF THE ORGANIC ACIDS OF TOBACCO TO THE INORGANIC BASIC CONSTITUENTS

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Abstract
The organic acids that can be extracted from acidified dried leaf tissue with ether and titrated between the limits pH 7.8 and 2.6 do not change significantly during the technical operation of curing tobacco leaves, and data from the literature indicate that there is little, if any, change during the subsequent operation of fermentation. Accordingly comparisons between the organic acidity and the inorganic basic constituents of cured and fermented tobacco leaves have significance for normal leaves. It is fotmd, in a series of samples of cured and fermented tobacco, that the excess of the positive ions Ca, K, Mg, nicotine, and ammonium over the negative ions nitrate, sulfate and phosphate, is correlated in a highly significant manner with the total organic acidity. The SiO2 of the ash does not appear to represent an acidic constituent of the original tissue. The organic acids occupy a dominating position with respect to the balance of cations anions; they are apparently closely concerned in the phenomena of inorganic nutrition.