ORGANIC AND SMOKE CONSTITUENTS IN HDBRG TOBACCO

Abstract

In order to generate information on a broad spectrum of leaf chemical constituents and smoke constituents in HDBRG tobacco, leaf samples were collected during 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons from bulk crop grown at CTRI Research Station, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh for analysis. Carbonyls ranged from 590.8 to 770.5 mg/100 g with an overall mean of 678.3 mg/100 g. The mean carotenoid content was in the range of 0.55 to 0.68 mg/g. The levels of chlorogenic acid (5.66 mg/g) and rutin (6.01 mg/g) were on a par and the total polyphenol content was ~1.2%. Total volatile bases (TVB) content was higher (1.05%) and comparatively total volatile acids (TVA) content was lower (0.68%). Malic acid (2.75%) was the important non-volatile acid followed by oxalic (2.30%) and citric (1.87%) acids. Among the volatile acids, isovaleric acid (47.66%) and β β β β β-methyl valeric acid (24.92%) were the major acids. Palmitic, linolenic and linoleic acids accounted for 81% of the fatty acid fraction. The proportion of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids was 55 and 45%, respectively. In the smoke, tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide values were 19.42, 3.05 and 15.02 mg/ cig, respectively. Higher carbonyl content compared to other non-FCV tobacco types, higher proportion of isovaleric acid and β β β β β-methyl valeric acid and lower citric acid level in the non-volatile acid fraction can be considered as the positive attributes of HDBRG tobacco smoking quality.