Relationship between Appearance Character and Internal Quality of Flue-cured Tobacco in Henan Province

The relationship between appearance character and internal quality of flue-cured tobacco was studied with 150 leaf samples produced in 2007 in Henan Province. The relationship between appearance character and smoking quality showed that there were poor smoking quality tobacco leaf samples among different stalk positions and among different bands on the seven appearance quality factors. There were significant correlations between smoking quality and each of the following: stalk position, color, body, and leaf structure. Overall, the smoking quality of the upper leaves were poor, the smoking quality of the deep orange leaves were poor, the smoking quality of the fleshy body leaves were poor, and the smoking quality of the still loose leaf structure leaves and the firm leaf structure leaves were poor. There were no significant correlations between maturity, oil, color intensity, length and the smoking quality. The relationship between appearance character and chemical components showed that there was no close relation of maturity, length and main chemical components or their derived values.