Aroma Component Characteristics of Jiangxi Tobacco Leaves and Association Analysis with Meteorological Factors

To clarify aroma component characteristics of Jiangxi tobacco leaves and key meteorological impact factors, aroma component contents of flue-cured tobacco from five different pure-sweetness type or burnt-sweetness type tobacco-planting areas in China were compared, and regional differences of characteristic aroma components in flue-cured tobacco and their association with meteorological factors in Jiangxi were analyzed in this study. The results showed that: (1) Megastigmatrienone content was higher in Jiangxi tobacco leaves, which accounted for the highest proportion of neutral aroma components and had the strongest metabolic formation from 3-oxo-α-ionol to megastigmatrienone, although neutral aroma component content in Jiangxi tobacco leaves was lower than that in other areas. (2) There were obvious regional differences in the contents of megastigmatrienone isomers and their total amount in Jiangxi tobacco leaves, which were closely associated with meteorological factors during mid-late stages of growth in the field, especially with the average temperature at mature stage. Therefore, high content of megastigmatrienone is an important aroma component characteristic of Jiangxi tobacco leaves, and average temperature at mature stage is a key meteorological factor impacting on formation and accumulation of megastigmatrienone in tobacco leaves and regional differences of megastigmatrienone contents in Jiangxi.