A breakthrough in the attempt to develop tobacco containing less than one-tenth the usual amount of nicotine has been made by a local agronomist, it was announced by the chemical laboratory of the Israel Standards Institute, a government agency. Most tobacco nicotine is in the roots, it was said, and in the new process a hybrid plant has been developed by grafting tobacco plants onto another type of root, which was not disclosed. The nicotine content of a plant is thus reduced from 1.2-1.8 percent to .16 percent, the lab said. A large local firm has agreed to allot funds for developing the new plant. But local manufacturers said the new leaf was not up to taste and aroma standards.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
