Nicotine content in tobacco and tobacco smoke

This chapter shows that all tobaccos used for factory and hand-made products (e.g., Oriental, Virginia, burley, reconstituted tobacco sheets) contain nicotine and many other alkaloids. The concentrations of nicotine vary dramatically across different types of tobacco and greatly depend on genetic potential, agricultural practices including fertilization and plant density in the field, curing and processing methods, leaf position on the plant, storage practices, country of origin, and production year. The content of nicotine in tobacco products, both smoked and smokeless, largely depend on blending strategies, namely the types of tobaccos and their proportion in the blend, product design features as well as additives that are employed to enhance nicotine bioavailability and appeal to the user. It is evident that all tobacco products contain enough nicotine to induce and sustain tobacco dependence.