[Objective] To investigate the effects of different loading methods on tobacco leaf quality.[Method] With tobacco comb,tobacco clamp,and tobacco basket,color,phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacity of flue-cured tobacco leaves were studied.[Result] The results showed that L＊,a＊ and b＊ values of tobacco leaves packaged by tobacco clamp and comb were higher than those of tobacco basket and no significant differences were found beween values of a＊ and b＊,however,between L＊ and h values,remarkable differences existed among three loading methods.Total phenolic content and chlorogenic acid content of tobacco leaves loaded by tobacco comb kept the highest,followed by smoke clamp and tobacco basket （P＜0.05）.On the other hand,rutin content showed little differences among treatments.The order of the antioxidant properties,such as DPPH free radical scavenging activity and reducing powder,of tobacco leaves by different loading methods was tobacco comb ＞ tobacco clamp ＞ loose basket and a positive relationship was found of antioxiang property with total phenolic content and chlorogenic acid content.[Conclusion] In view of tobacco leaves quality and antioxidant property,loading method with tobacco comb proved to be a better choice.
