Changes of Some Important Aroma Components in Burley Tobacco during Growing, Harvesting and Curing

The semi-volatile components in domestic burley tobacco grown in Hefeng county, Hubei province in 2000 and 2001 were extracted using simultaneous distillation-extraction equipment, and analyzed by GC and GC/MS.91 semi-volatile components were qualitatively identified, of which 20 important components contributed to burley tobacco flavor characteristics were quantitatively determined.The results showed that the amount of each aromatic component in burley tobacco was dynamically changed in line with certain rules during growing, harvesting and curing.During curing, solanone, norsolandione, megasitigmatrienones, indole and oxo-isophorone in burley tobacco increased significantly.Pyrazine and methylpyrazine in burley tobacco were negligible until curing began.The amount of neophytadiene enhanced gradually from topping to harvesting, and reached maximum at the beginning of curing, then trended to decrease.The results would provide a basis for producing domestic burley tobacco with good quality.