Effects of Loading Modes on Flue-curing Efficiency and Leaf Quality of Tobacco

In order to investigate the measures of saving labor force and energy during the development of tobacco agricultural modernization, the experiment of loading tobacco leaf was conducted with five treatments (loading leaf with clip, loose-leaf with frame, loose-leaf with skewer, loose-leaf with large box and traditional loading leaf with pole). The results showed that four loading modes (loading leaf with clip, loose-leaf with frame, loose-leaf with skewer and loose-leaf with large box) raised working efficiency, decreased the cost of labor force compared with the traditional loading mode. The leaf conditioning efficiencies of loading leaf with clip and traditional loading leaf with pole were similar, and higher than other three loading modes. The energy cost during curing of traditional loading leaf with pole was higher than loading leaf with clip, loose-leaf with frame and loose-leaf with skewer but lower than loose-leaf with large box. The difference of the economic characters, contents of chemical components and smoking quality of curing leaves between loading leaf with clip and traditional loading leaf with pole was inconspicuous, while loose-leaf with frame and loose-leaf with skewer were worse than traditional loading leaf with pole. Curing leaves of loose-leaf with large box exhibited the worst economic characters and smoking quality in all loading modes.