Comparison of Chemical Components in Flue-cured Tobaccos among Chinese and Overseas Major Planting Zones

To extract chemical differences of flue-cured tobacco from different planting zones, 72 of components, including the normal chemical indices and the aromas in 294 flue-cured tobaccos from both Chinese and overseas planting zones were analyzed. Among the Chinese planting zones, 37, 5 and 21 of chemical components were found to have high concentrations in Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan, respectively. Among the oversea planting zones, 23, 13 and 20 of components were found to have high concentration in Zimbabwe and Zambia, the USA, and Brazil, respectively. Comparing with the oversea flue-cured tobaccos, the Chinese were found low in total nitrogen, polyphenol, chlorine, potassium, total volatile acids, total volatile bases, tobacco alkaloid, and petroleum ether extracts, and high in protein, total sugar, reducing sugar, ratio of sugar to base, ratio of nitrogen to base.