Relationship between potassium content of flue-cured tobacco leaves and main volatile aroma components as well as sensory evaluation

40 flue-cured tobacco leaf samples were collected in Sichuan Province.Contents of potassium and main volatile aroma components of tobacco leaves were determined,and their sensory scores were evaluated.The results showed the potassium content of flue-cured tobacco leaves in Sichuan tobacco-growing areas was(19.36±4.53)g·kg-1,Showing the order of lower leafmiddle leafupper leaf.The cluster analysis indicated that there was close relationship between potassium content and main volatile aroma components.The group with the highest content of potassium also had the highest contents of neoplytadiene,products degraded by carotene,products of aromatic amino,products of Maillard reaction and total main volatile aroma components,and was much higher than the other two groups with both medium and lowest contents of potassium;content of products degraded by cembrane,however,did not show significant difference among the three groups.When the content of potassium of flue-cured tobacco leaves changed from 10～35 g·kg-1,there were significant regression relationship between potassium content and quality of aroma,volume of aroma,after taste,combustibility as well as total score,respectively.But the regression relationships between potassium content and undesirable taste,biting taste as well as ash were not significant at 5% level.