Patent ID: 7538071

Claim:
A method of reducing the nicotine content of a tobacco plant, said method comprising: (a) damaging the tobacco plant being treated to simulate the feeding activity of the herbivore Helicoverpa zea ; and (b) applying to the tobacco plant a composition selected from the group consisting of an aqueous solution of glucose oxidase and a salivary extract of a tobacco plant herbivore, wherein said composition contains 2 g to 200 g of glucose oxidase per 55 gallons to inhibit the synthesis of nicotine in the tobacco plant; wherein steps (a) and (b) are repeated to sequentially lower the level of nicotine in the tobacco plant so that the resulting nicotine content in the tobacco plant treated with the composition (i) provides a non-addictive level of nicotine in the central nervous system blood plasma of the tobacco plant user and (ii) is less than or equal to 0.01 mg nicotine per 1 gram tobacco leaf.