Study on model of aroma quality evaluation for flue-cured tobacco based on principal component analysis

To establish a new method for quality evaluation of flue-cured tobacco, aroma components in thirteen flue-cured tobacco samples were identified and determined by the simultaneous distillation extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SDE-GC-MS), and an evaluation model of aroma quality was established based on principal component analysis. Results indicated that the highest integrated score occurred in the sample T10, followed by T13, T1, T8, T12, T5, T3, T4, T9, T7, T11, T2 and T6, which were grossly consistent with the results of the traditional sensory smoking evaluation. Therefore, this model established in our study was feasible. Compared with the appearance, sensory, and traditional chemical components quality evaluation methods, our evaluation model based on aroma quality and principal component analysis can reflect the aroma quality of flue-cured tobacco more objectively, directly and accurately, and clear the position of flue-cured tobacco leaves in the cigarette blend.