The distribution of flavor notes in strong flavor type tobacco leaves from Hunan province

Forty-four leaf tobacco samples from Hunan province were collected and tested by sensory evaluation to study regional distribution characteristics of flavor types and notes. Spatial distribution of various flavors and aroma scales was drawn by inverse distance weighting(IDW) method. Results showed that:1) strong flavor type was from little to prominent, with hay incense, burnt sweetness aroma and burnt aroma as the principal notes. 2) significant differences were found between strong flavor type and burnt-sweetness type among different regions, with non-significant differences for hay incense, pure-sweetness aroma, nutty aroma, burnt aroma and spicy flavor. 3) IDW map indicated that scales of strong flavor type, burnt-sweetness aroma, burnt aroma and spicy flavor decreased from south to north, and the same for hay incense from northwest to south, and for pure-sweetness aroma from west to east. Nutty aroma and woody aroma were distributed in spots.