Engaged in research starting from leaf tobacco, to create tobacco products with even better taste and flavor to suit our times.
Science Research
Fumiaki Hirose
Research on cultivation and component analysis of leaf tobacco
We attempt to improve the value of Heated Tobacco Products (HTP) by fully applying the goodness of tobacco leaves.
I am engaged in research on leaf tobacco as a plant. HTP have the characteristic of heating tobacco at low temperatures rather than burning it as in cigarettes, so they require special measures to bring out strong taste and flavor. While our devices are being developed to be even better than they are now, I am proceeding with research on what can be done to contribute through tobacco leaf materials. Specifically, the JT Group has an extensive range of leaf tobacco variants and strains, so I carry out research to select variants and strains among them with characteristics that differ from existing types, and to establish methods for their easy cultivation while fully taking advantage of those characteristics. The products in the Ploom TECH+ Gold Leaf series are examples of the contributions we have made to improving the richness of taste, by combining strains we have selected with new cultivation technology. Our research results have been applied to actual products.
The best thing about doing research at a company is being able to see our satisfied consumers close at hand.
After acquiring a doctor’s degree at graduate school, I spent roughly 10 years doing research which included genetic analysis of plants at a research institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. I subsequently worked at a different company, and then entered the JT Group as an employee with prior experience in 2018. I have up to this point worked at both national research institutions and private companies, and both types of work were interesting to me but in different ways. Since research at companies has the underlying premise of creating products, its appeal includes seeing pleased consumers who are using products we have released, and being able to see the results of our own research close at hand. National research institutions, however, focus on basic science research divided into detailed categories, so when I was occasionally asked, “Would that be useful in any way?”, it was at times difficult to find an answer. Of course, basic science research has its own significance and appeal that only it can offer, but I feel that working at companies gives the sensation of creating things that can be of actual use to the world, and it may make it easier to feel joy in one’s work.
Leaf tobacco has infinite potential, and I want my research on it to provide contributions to mankind.
Tobacco products have existed together with mankind since ancient times. Tobacco as a plant also has excellent regenerative abilities as well as various components and metabolic products, so it has been applied for many years as a model plant in research on molecular biology. However, there are still a large number of things we do not fully understand about its components. I believe it is a plant with great hidden potential. Research on it may yield results that can provide valuable contributions to agriculture, including leaf tobacco cultivation. One example is the defensive reactions possessed by plants in general. In order to protect themselves, plants have the characteristic of producing substances that can repel harmful insects. Research on the components contained in leaf tobacco may be able to assist in the development of agricultural chemicals that are friendly to the natural environment. The JT Group is engaged in reducing environmental burdens as a part of its sustainability strategies, so it would be wonderful if we could reduce the environmental burdens associated with leaf tobacco cultivation as well. I want to develop new technologies never seen before in the JT Group, which is equipped with its own plant research organizations specializing in leaf tobacco, and possesses a huge variety of leaf tobacco variants and strains even among the many tobacco companies in the world. I would like to continue making new attempts so that we can contribute to mankind through our business.