To study the effects of the type and dosage of water retaining agent on the content of secondary metabolites and chemical components in cigar leaves under drought stress，Dexue NO.3 was taken as test material. Pot experiment was carried out to study the effects of different kinds of water retaining agents(SAP water-retaining agent，Walter water-retaining agent and self-made TS-PAA water-retaining agent)and dosage(2，4 and 6 g· plant-1)on the content fluctuation of plastids pigment，polyphenols and organic acids in cigar growing process，and the content changes of these chemical components after modulation. The results showed that，①The application of three kinds of water retaining agents under drought stress significantly increased the content of chlorophyll，chlorophyll a，chlorophyll b and carotenoids in cigar leaves；It is conducive to rapid accumulation of chlorophyll in the early and middle stages of tobacco plant and full degradation in the later stages，so as to ensure to timely fall yellow of cigar leaves.② The contents of chlorogenic acid，rutin and scopoletin increased first and then decreased slowly during growth and development，and were significantly higher than those of the control，indicating that the three water retaining agents were beneficial to the accumulation of polyphenols and could indirectly improve the aroma and taste of cured cigar leaves.③ At 75 d after transplanting，compared with the control，the contents of malic acid，oxalic acid，and malonic acid were all increased to varying degrees under the treatment of three water retaining agents，while there was no significant difference for citric acid content.④The application of three water retaining agents significantly increased the contents of total sugar，reduced the contents of sugar and potassium，and decreased the contents of total nitrogen，nicotine，starch and chlorine，and then increased the ratios of two sugars，sugar to base，potassium to chlorine and nitrogen to base，so that the chemical components in cigar leaves tended to be balanced and coordinated. Compared with different treatments，the water retention agents had the best effects on the accumulation and quality improvement of secondary metabolites when the dosage of TS-PAA and SAP water-retaining agent was 4 g·plant-1，and Walter water-retaining agent was 6 g·plant-1.