Machine Threshed
Tobacco Leaf

Machine threshed tobacco leaf is the modern automated alternative to hand stripped tobacco leaf. The difference between hand stripped tobacco leaf and machine threshed tobacco leaf is that hand stripped tobacco leaf will produce whole leaf tobacco where machine threshed tobacco leaf will produce a tobacco leaf that is broken into smaller pieces.

Tobacco leaf is sent from the warehouse for processing with a relatively low moisture level to avoid spoilage and decay of tobacco leaves. Before threshing, the tobacco
needs to be heated and moistened to prevent unwanted breaking of the tobacco during the threshing.

Threshers cut the tobacco using rotating and fixed blades placed above the bent boxes which vary in size. Cut tobacco enter the separators which separate the lighter lamina without stems from heavier parts, leaf lamina with stems.
It is normal that not all the tobacco lamina can be separated from the stems in one round, so the process is repeated until all the lamina is completely separated from the stem. The current standard is that the tobacco processing facilities have 5 levels of threshing machines with a different number of separators to maximize efficiency.

After threshing, all products go through the process of drying. Here, moisture from every single piece of tobacco leaf is removed through the process of osmosis and the amount of moisture is unified in every single piece of the lamina to a specified level.