Breeding for Reduced Nicotine Content in Burley Tobacco

Prior to release as commercial varieties, all prospective varieties must be evaluated as part of the Regional Burley Variety Evaluation program. This program ensures that all new burley varieties meet minimum chemical and physical parameters established by the tobacco industry. For nicotine content, the standards stipulate that new varieties must have nicotine content that is no more than 15% greater than, or 20% less than, the average of two control varieties. Although nicotine levels in burley tobacco vary by growing season, this maximum 35% variation established by the minimum standards program essentially restricts variety variation to approximately 1.6%; for example, if the average of the two control varieties is 4.5% nicotine, the experimental varieties can contain no more than 5.18% or less than 3.6% nicotine. To reduce levels further requires breeding specifically for low nicotine.