Carotenoid-Related Volatile Compounds of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) Essential Oils.

Venelina Popova,Valtcho D Zheljazkov,Tsvetko Prokopov,Milena Nikolova,Tanya Ivanova,Albena Stoyanova

doi:10.3390/molecules24193446

Venelina Popova, Valtcho D Zheljazkov + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24193446

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Abstract

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) aroma is an important attribute of tobacco quality and is influenced by a variety of minor chemical components, including carotenoid degradation products. The objectives of this work were to determine the content of the most important fragrance-shaping carotenoid degradation products in the essential oils (EOs) of the three types of Bulgarian tobacco—Oriental (OR), flue-cured Virginia (FCV), and Burley (BU)—and to compare them with other aromatic products from tobacco. The content of total carotenoids and β-carotene was highest in BU tobacco (22.23 and 20.34 mg/100 g DW, respectively), followed by OR (13.60 and 12.09 mg/100 g DW in variety “Plovdiv 7” (Pd7); 6.27 and 5.45 mg/100 g DW in “Krumovgrad” (Kr), and FCV (5.93 and 3.73 mg/100 g DW). EOs were obtained by hydrodistillation in an acidified medium, and the main aroma-impact compounds from carotenoid degradation (identified by GC-MS) were as follows: FCV-α-ionone (0.61 mg/100 g DW), dihydro-β-ionone (0.96 mg/100 g DW), β-damascenone (1.26 mg/100 g DW); BU-α-ionone (0.73 mg/100 g DW), dihydro-β-ionone (1.19 mg/100 g DW), β-damascenone (1.35 mg/100 g DW); OR(Kr)-α-ionone (0.20 mg/100 g DW), β-ionone (1.08 mg/100 g DW), dihydro-β-ionone (1.34 mg/100 g DW), β-damascenone (0.36 mg/100 g DW); OR(Pd7)-α-ionone (1.43 mg/100 g DW), dihydro-β-ionone (1.73 mg/100 g DW), β-damascenone (1.23 mg/100 g DW). Ionone and its derivatives were not identified in the aroma extraction products concrete, resinoid, or absolute. The results suggest that temperature, pH of the medium, process duration, and possibly other unknown factors affect carotenoid transformation. The study provides insight into the composition of tobacco EOs and may be of interest to the fragrance industry.

Highlights

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) has been a focus of scientific research for centuries due to its religious, ethnobotanical, medicinal, physiological, and social role in human history, and due to its importance as an aromatic plant
Data reveal differences in carotenoid composition among the tobaccos; the air-cured BU had the highest content of β-carotene (20.34 mg/100 g dry weight (DW)), while the tobaccos; the air-cured BU had the highest content of β-carotene (20.34 mg/100 g DW), while the other other two tobaccos had two tobaccos had considerably lower β-carotene levels (3.73–12.09 mg/100 g DW)
Varied significantly, with OR(Kr) tobacco being the highest-yielding plant material (4.44 mg/g DW), followed by OR(Pd7) tobacco (3.01 mg/g DW); this is in line with previous reports and the ranking of Bulgarian oriental tobacco as highly-aromatic [21,22,25]

Summary

Introduction

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) has been a focus of scientific research for centuries due to its religious, ethnobotanical, medicinal, physiological, and social role in human history, and due to its importance as an aromatic plant. It has turned into one of the most extensively studied natural materials, and its chemical composition and diverse beneficial and harmful effects are widely popularized [1,2]. These aromatic products typically include tobacco concrete and tobacco absolute, used in fine perfumery (“tabac”, “dry” or “masculine” scented perfumes), and tobacco resinoid, used in the process of casing or top flavoring of tobacco blends for cigarettes and other tobacco products [4]

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