Relationship analysis between content of non-volatile organic acid and quality index in different parts of flue-cured tobacco

ObjectiveThe relationship between the content change of non-volatile organic acid and relevant quality indexes in different parts of flue-cured tobacco was studied in order to provide theoretical basis for the purchase of raw ma-terials in cigarette industry.MethodThe 261 samples of aged tobacco leaves from 11 flue-cured tobacco producing areas in China were used as test materials. Simple correlation analysis,regression analysis and canonical correlation analysis were used to analyze the content change of non-volatile organic acid in upper,middle and lower leaves and its relation-ship with chemical quality index and sensory quality index.ResultThe total content of non-volatile organic acid showed extremely significant difference(P<0.01,the same below)in various parts,whose rank was lower leaves>middle leaves>upper leaves. The non-volatile organic acid components and chemical index in each part showed correlation of different de-grees. The total content of non-volatile organic acid showed negative correlation with total alkaloid,reducing sugar and potassium content,and showed positive correlation with the chlorine content. The non-volatile organic acid components in each part also had different degrees of correlation with the sensory evaluation index. There was negative correlation be-tween the total content of non-volatile organic acid and the aroma characteristics. The result of canonical correlation analy-sis showed that the contents of malonic acid and oleic acid had great influence on smoke concentration,and that the con-tents of palmitic acid and linoleic acid had great influence on the aftertaste.ConclusionThe content of non-volatile or-ganic acid in flue-cured tobacco has certain degree of influence on both chemical quality and sensory quality of cured to-bacco leaves. So the content of non-volatile organic acid in tobacco leaves should be regulated during the process of toba-cco planting by some measures such as fertilization. The cigarette processing enterprises can select the raw materials accor-ding to the content of non-volatile organic acids in cured tobacco leaves.