Study on Chemical Characteristics of Yunnan Cherry-red Tobacco

PurposeTo analyze the chemical characteristics of cherry-red tobacco providing basis for the cultivation, curing, production and research of cherry-red tobacco.

MethodsComparative analysis of conventional chemical composition, six alkaloids and pyrolysis in Yunyan97 tobacco and Yunnan cherry-red tobacco through the equipments and methods refer to the continuous flow analyzer, ultra high performance liquid-mass spectroscopy and thermogravimetric and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Results1) The content of total nitrogen, reducing sugars and chloride ions in cherry-red tobacco were higher than those in Yunyan97, and the content of chloride ions in cherry-red tobacco was 4.92 times that in Yunyan97. 2) The content of nicotine in cherry-red tobacco (4 876 μg/g) was lower than that in Yunyan97 (19 258 μg/g), while the content of nornicotinine, mesmine and cotinine were higher than those in Yunyan97. 3) Cherry-red tobacco could be pyrolyzed to produce acid, ester, ketone and alkali aroma components.

ConclusionThe smell like glutinous rice fragrant of Yunnan cherry-red tobacco is closely related to the contents of nornicotine, dienonicotine, mesmin, 2,3′-bipyridine, 2-(3-pyridinyl) 1H-pyrrole, N-propyl nornicotine, furfuryl alcohol, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyrane-4-one produced by pyrolysis.