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Investigation of the Chemical Compositions in Tobacco of Different Origins and Maturities at Harvest by GC–MS and HPLC–PDA-QTOF-MS
journal contribution
posted on 2014-06-04, 00:00 authored by Bing Xia, Mengmeng Feng, Gang Xu, Jindi Xu, Songlin Li, Xiaozhen Chen, Lisheng Ding, Yan ZhouTobacco
samples of a same cultivar grown in different plantations
in China were evaluated for their chemical compositions at different
maturities for the first time. This was accomplished by a comprehensive
and reliable method using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry
(GC–MS) and high performance liquid chromatography–photodiode
array-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-PDA-QTOF-MS)
to analyze the fat-soluble and polar components in 12 batches of tobacco
samples of three origins and four maturities. The GC–MS analyses
showed that tobacco samples harvested at 40 days after transplantation
exhibited more fat-soluble components, while those harvested at 100
days after transplantation exhibited the least fat-soluble components.
Tentatively, identification of the main components as well as quantitative
analyses of eight reference compounds, including five alkaloids, two
polyphenols, and a coumarin, was performed by the developed HPLC–QTOF-PDA
method. Results showed significant differences among origins and maturities
in the contents of these compounds. The nicotine contents showed great
variety among the 12 tobacco samples. The highest nicotine content
were found in a sample from Zhengzhou harvested at 40 days after transplantation
(ZZ-T with 25399.39 ± 308.95 μg/g), and the lowest nicotine
level was detected in a sample from Zunyi harvested at 60 days after
transplantation (ZY-X with 1654.49 ± 34.52 μg/g). The highest
level of rutin was found in a Jiangchuan sample harvested at 60 days
after transplantation (JC-X with 725.93 ± 40.70 μg/g),
and the lowest rutin content was detected in a Zunyi tobacco sample
harvested at 60 days after transplantation (ZY-X with 87.42 ±
2.78 μg/g). The developed method provided a convenient approach
which might be applied for rapid maturity evaluation and tobacco flavor
identification and also holds the potential for analysis of compounds
present in other plants.