Analysis of organic acids and inorganic anions in natural tobacco flavors by ion chromatography

In order to investigate the distribution characteristics of organic acids and inorganic anions in natural tobacco flavors, an ultrasound-assisted extraction-ion chromatography method was used to quantify the acetic acid, lactic acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, citric acid, Cl^-, NO₂^-, SO₄^2- and PO₄^3- in 202 natural tobacco flavor samples, the concentration data of those organic acids and inorganic anions were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and principal component analysis methods. The results showed that: 1)The concentrations of organic acids and inorganic anions in different natural flavor samples differed significantly. The mean concentrations of organic acids and inorganic anions in concentrate, extraction and extract samples were higher than those in essential oil and absolute oil samples, and those in tincture and resin samples were moderate. The mean concentration of fumaric acid in natural flavor samples from jujube and that of citric acid in natural flavor samples from Prunus mume were higher than the other samples. 2)The distribution characteristics of organic acids and inorganic anions in natural flavor samples correlated to raw materials and product types, which could assist the quality evaluation of natural flavors and the selection of natural flavors in cigarette flavoring.