With the tobacco industry to carry reduction of tar harm, the problem that cigarette aroma quality and aroma increasingly decline is significant. In order to solve this problem, the tobacco industry commonly increases the application of air-cured tobacco in the formulation. Fermentation is the important factor that determines the quality of air-cured tobacco. Through fermentation, substances in the air-cured tobacco show a series of chemical or biochemical changes and tend to coordinate. Therefore, Fermentation can improve the quality of raw tobacco, but also improve the suction quality and availability of air-cured tobacco.This article makes a review of the mechanism of air-cured tobacco fermentation, the change of chemical elements during tobacco fermentation and the role of microorganisms and enzymes in tobacco fermentation. It is considered that exploration and research should be strengthened on the process and theoretics of fermentation so that the cigarette industry rationally use raw material to decrease tar and harm of cigarettes.

air-cured tobacco , fermentation , enzyme , microorganism