Patent ID: 7556046

Claim:
A method of reducing the content of Tobacco Specific Nitrosamines (TSNA) in a tobacco leaf, comprising: 1) applying an isolated microorganism of Sphingornonas paucimobilis LG5 strain (FERM BP-7830) which has the capability to reduce TSNA to a tobacco leaf by any one of the following treatments i) to iii), in a period from the time after harvest of the tobacco leaf to the time when completing a storage process, to produce a treated tobacco leaf: i) at least one time of spraying of a liquid suspension or a dry powder comprising the isolated microorganism; ii) at least one time of coating of the liquid suspension or the dry powder comprising the isolated microorganism; and iii) at least one time of immersion in the liquid suspension comprising the isolated microorganism, and 2) curing the treated tobacco leaf wherein a cured tobacco leaf has a lower TSNA content as compared with an untreated tobacco leaf.