Research Progress on the Role of Exogenous Additives in the Fermentation of Cigar Tobacco Leaves

Cigars are a pure natural tobacco product, with an increasing market share in the Chinese economy. At present, compared with high-quality cigars from abroad, there is still significant room for improvement in the raw materials of Chinese cigars. High quality cigar tobacco leaves need to go through multiple steps such as cultivation, preparation, fermentation, aging, rolling, and maintenance. Among them, fermentation is the main link that affects the improvement of cigar tobacco quality. Therefore, improving fermentation quality and efficiency has increasingly become a focus of research in the field of cigar tobacco. Multiple studies have shown that adding exogenous additives plays an important role in promoting the fermentation of cigar tobacco leaves, which can effectively improve the quality and usability of cigar tobacco leaves. This article reviews the research progress on the effects of adding different types of exogenous additives on cigar fermentation, and looks forward to the research direction and importance of exogenous additives.