Analysis of Chemical Components in Bloom on Cigar Leaf

To investigate the chemical composition of the bloom on cigar leaf,inorganic ions and volatile organic compounds in the bloom were extracted with water and simultaneous distillation and extraction,and determined by atomic absorption spectrometry,ionic chromatography,UV spectrophotometry and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy,respectively.The results showed that inorganic ions,including Ca²⁺,Mg²⁺,K⁺,Na⁺,NH₄⁺,PO₄^3-,Cl^-,NO₃^-,NO₂^- and SO₄^2- were detected,which accounted for 4.5%,0.9%,22.5%,2%,9.4%,0.4%,9.9%,33.2%,1.5%,3.8% of bloom weight,respectively;while totally accounted for 88%.The major volatile organic compounds were erythritol,l-threitol,xylitol and dl-threitol and a small quantity of alkanes.It was concluded that the bloom of cigar leaf was a kind of mixture composed of KNO₃,NH₄Cl,as major constituents,and some volatile organic compounds.