Question

The tobacco plant Nicotiana tabacum L. belongs to the family
A. Solanaceae
B. Euphorbiaceae
C. Urticaceae
D. Moraceae

Answer 1

Hint: It belongs to the same family as the most commonly used vegetable i.e. Potato. Tobacco is a plant that belongs to the order solanales, class Magnoliophyta.

Complete answer: It is commonly known as cultivated Tobacco. It is an annually grown perennial herbaceous plant. It grows in height between 1 and 2 meters. Almost every part of the plant contains nicotine except Seed. The concentration of nicotine may vary, and it is dependent on many factors such as weather conditions, type of land, species, etc. As the age of the plant increases, the concentration of nicotine also increases. In many countries, the leaves of the tobacco plant are grown for commercial purposes in the production of tobacco. Tobacco leaves contain 2-8% nicotine combined as malate or citrate. The distribution of nicotine varies greatly i.e., 64% of total nicotine present in the leaves whereas the stem contains 18% of nicotine, 13% in the root and the least amount of nicotine is present in flowers which is 5%. As all the plant part contains nicotine and its extracts are used as an insecticide. It is also rubbed on the body as an insect repellent. The leaves of the plant are applied externally for the treatment of rheumatic swelling, skin diseases, painful piles, and stings. The dried leaves can be used 6 months after drying. These dried leaves are also used as a snuff or are smoked. Nicotiana tabacum L. is the main species that are used for different products for smokers e.g cigarette, cigar, etc
Therefore, Option (A), i.e., Solanaceae is the correct answer.

Note: The classification of tobacco plants belongs to kingdom Plantae, class Magnoliophyta, family Solanaceae, genus Nicotiana, species tabacum. The leaves of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) constitute alkaloid, nicotine as a major constituent, and pyridine as minor constituents.