Effect of Maturity at Harvest on Aroma Components in Flue-cured Tobacco cv.CB-1 Grown in Sanming

In order to study the effect of maturity at harvest on aroma components in flue-cured tobacco cv.CB-1 grown in Sanming,an experiment was conducted with upper and middle leaves of CB-1.The results showed that: with the increase of maturity,the contents of total aroma components and neutral portion in cured leaves increased first and then decreased,the content of acidic portion tended to decrease,while the content of alkaline portion tended to rise.Considering the dynamic of main components,the preliminary conclusion was that: for cv.CB-1 in Sanming,upper and middle leaves should be harvested slightly earlier than usual,i.e.middle leaves be harvested when leaf surface was yellowish green,2/3 of midrib length became white and veins started to turn white;upper leaves be harvested when leaf surface was greenish yellow,the base of midrib became white and more than 2/3 of veins turned white.