Characteristics of Amadori Compounds and Their Correlation with Sensory Quality of Flue-cured Tobacco in Sichuan

Purpose To explore the relationship between Amadori compounds and tobacco quality in flue-cured tobacco.

Methods The content characteristics of Amadori compound in different flavor flue-cured tobacco from Sichuan Province and its relationship with sensory quality were studied by statistical method.

Results 1) The content of 1-deoxy-1-L-proline-D-fructose (Fru-Pro) was the highest in Amadori, followed by 1-deoxy-1-L-alanine-D-fructose (Fru-Ala). The contents of most Amadori compounds were significantly different between fresh-sweetness flavor type and honey-sweetness flavor type or bouquet-sweetness flavor type, but there was no significant difference between the latter two. The total amount of Amadori compound, the contents of Fru-Pro and 1-deoxy-1-L-glutamine-D-fructose (Fru-Glu) in fresh-sweetness flavor type were extremely significantly higher than those in honey-sweetness flavor type or bouquet-sweetness flavor type; but the contents of glucosamine, Fru-Ala, 1-deoxy-1-L-valine-D-fructose (Fru-Val), 1-deoxy-1-L-leucine-D-fructose+1-deoxy-1-L-isoleucine-D-fructose (Fru-Leu+Ile) and 1-deoxy-1-L-phenylalanine-D-fructose (Fru-Phe) in fresh-sweetness flavor type were significantly or extremely significantly lower than those in honey-sweetness flavor type or bouquet-sweetness flavor type. 2) The contents of most Amadori compounds was significantly or extremely significantly positively correlated with the content of precursor amino acids. The contents of glucosamine, Fru-Glu, 1-deoxy-1-L-glycine-D-fructose (Fru-Gly) and 1-deoxy-1-L-tryptophane-D-fructose (Fru-Trp) were extremely significantly positively correlated with the contents of all eight precursor amino acids. 3) Most of the Amadori compounds showed negative correlation with sensory quality indexes, only Fru-Pro showed a significant positive correlation with volume of aroma, while the conversion rate of Amadori compounds showed a positive correlation with sensory quality indexes. 4) Mantel test showed that the correlation between Amadori compounds and conversion rate was relatively strong, and mostly positive correlation. Amadori compounds and their conversion rate mainly affected the aroma characteristics of flue-cured tobacco. Glucosamine had the greatest impact on the sensory quality of flue-cured tobacco, and too high content was not good for tobacco quality.

Conclusion Amadori compounds are closely related to the sensory quality of flue-cured tobacco, and most Amadori compounds have negative effects on the quality of sensory evaluation indexes. In general, the influence on aroma characteristics of flue-cured tobacco is the greatest, followed by taste characteristics, and the influence on smoke characteristics is the least.