Good info to share on any scientific differences between Cuban and New World tobacco fermentation?

[ReturnFreeRisk]

Curious if anyone has sources or input on these following questions in the back of my mind, or any other good info on tobacco fermentation science...Personally I love to ferment food, really anything and everything, ranging from pickles, yogurt, mexican salsas, apples, lemons, mead...list goes on. And I experiment with different cultures, many of which have various geographical references. For example, you can source Bulgarian or French yogurt strains and you’ll get very different end results with the same milk. So it got me thinking if there’s any literature on the dominant , native bacterial strains in Cuba vs. elsewhere? Or if any other study exists on unique aspects of Cuban tobacco microorganisms, enzymatic activities, and their resulting chemical components?

Even though this is at such a detailed level this is all part of terroir.

A slight tangent, but based on my experience fermenting, and the different levels of tartness you get from bacteria, length of fermentation...I have always wondered if it was their native bacteria, fermentation, tobacco processing that mostly contributed to the unique ‘twang’.

 

 

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[Bijan]

I haven't dug too deep but tobacco especially cigars seems to lack scientific research compared to wine and other such products.

Consensus seems to be it is Pinar del Rio's micro climate that makes CCs unique. But I guess it's anyone's guess.

[NSXCIGAR]

Fermentation of premium tobacco is a somewhat proprietary process, meaning a producer may use varying approaches and techniques, although I'm sure there are certain generally accepted standards they all follow. 

A good general overview can be found here: https://www.tobacconistuniversity.org/curriculum_tobacco_college_curing3.php#:~:text=Fermentation or "working" (trabajando,and impurities in the leaves and here: https://www.leafonly.com/tobacco-harvesting-curing-fermenting.php

Some older studies of the process can be found here: https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43968481/PDF

 

 

[Bijan]

2 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Some older studies of the process can be found here: https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43968481/PDF

That last one concludes that fungi and not bacteria may be involved in the fermentation process.