Dynamic Variation of Carotenoids and Polyphenols During Flue Curing

To investigate the dynamic variation of carotenoids and ployphenols in flue-cured tobacco during curing and provide a theoretic basis for increasing the contents of aromatic precursors in Henan flue-cured tobacco, the contents of carotenoids and ployphenols in leaves of typical Henan flue-cured tobacco cultivars, Zhongyan 100 and Qinyan 96, were determined with high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC). The results showed that:1) The carotenoids in both cultivars degraded sharply at early yellowing stage and became stable at late yellowing stage. The carotenoids content was similar in cured leaves of both cultivars, though it was higher in green leaves of Qinyan 96. 2) During curing, the polyphenols content in leaves of the two cultivars tended to increasing generally, however it was always higher in Zhongyan 100 than in Qinyan 96.3) From the beginning of curing to the stage of 38℃ was the key period of carotenoids degradation. 4) Genotype was an important factor affecting the content of polyphenols in flue-cured tobacco.