Contents of Nonvolatile Organic Acids in Flue-cured Tobacco from Main Tobacco Growing Areas in Henan

To investigate the characteristics of nonvolatile organic acid contents in flue-cured tobacco from the main tobacco growing areas in Henan, the contents of nonvolatile organic acids in tobacco samples of different grades from different areas were determined by gas chromatography method and compared. The correlation between the content of individual nonvolatile organic acid and the total content of nonvolatile organic acids was analyzed. The cluster analysis of tobacco samples was conducted on the basis of their nonvolatile organic acid contents. The results showed that: 1) The total contents of nonvolatile organic acids in samples ranged from 99.32 to 181.90 mg/g with the average of 134.10 mg/g. There existed great variations between different nonvolatile organic acids. 2) The areas in the order of total nonvolatile organic acid content were Jiaxian> Xuchang> Luoning> Shanxian> Lingbao> Luyi> Xiangcheng> Lushi> Sheqi. 3) The total contents of nonvolatile organic acids in tobacco samples of different grades extremely significantly differed in the order of X2F > B2F > C3F. 4) The total content of nonvolatile organic acids extremely significantly positively correlated to the contents of malic acid, citric acid and linolenic acid, and significantly positively correlated to malonic acid content. 5) Henan tobacco samples were classified into three categories according to the results of cluster analysis.