Preliminary Study on Principal Aroma and Flavor Constituents of Flue-cured Tobacco in China

This study selected 122 samples of middle position flue-cured leaves from 5 main typical production areas located in southwest, southeast and Huanghuai regions of China, explored the relationships between leaf aroma and flavor constituents and their qualities, analyzed the contents and characteristics of different aroma and flavor constituents, studied the principal aroma and flavor constituents of flue-cured tobacco leaf. The resulted showed that the principal aroma and flavor substances of Chinese flue-cured tobacco leaves could be best represented by ketone substances, such as Damascenone, Megastigmatrienone and Solanone, and the B value of aroma index consisted by these substances might explain the quality characteristics of different leaves from various regions. It appeared that the more Damascenone and Megastigmatrienone, and higher B value, the better the aroma and flavor quality; the higher Solanone and lower B value, the poorer the aroma and flavor quality. Also, among leaves from various regions, their Megastigmatrienone contents were quite stable, the contents of Solanone and Megastigmatrienone were varied greatly, affected by ecological conditions; the B values which represented the leaf aroma and flavor quality, varied considerably in different regions.