Abstract: The main aromatic components in flue-cured tobacco were identified and qualitatively determined by GC/MS. The qualitative analyses on the aromatic components in NC₈₉ showed that the main components were neophytidiene; nicotine; solanone; benzeneacetaldehyde 10-isopropyl-3, 7, 13-trimethyl-2, 6, 11, 13-tetradecaen-1-al; 1, 3, 6, 10-cyclotetradecatc-traene; 4, 6(Z), 8(-E)-megastigmatrien-3-onej prenylsolanone; tetradecanoic acid; hexadecanoic acid and 2-buten-1-one, 1(2-6, 6-trimethyl-1, 3-cyclohexadien-l-YL). The quantitative analyses showed that the relative contents of neophytidiene; solanone;3-damascene; 2- furancarboxaldehyde;(1S, 2E, 4R, 6R, 7E, 11S)-2, 7, 12-cembratriene-4, 6, 11-triol were the highest in the mature leaves. But the relative contents of tetradecanoic acid; benzeneethanolj prenylsolanone; 10-isopyl-3, 7, 13-trimethyl- 2, 7, 11, 13-tetradecatetraene-1-ol-and 4, 6(E)-8(Z)-megastigmatrieri-3-one kept increasing even in over-mature leaves. However, benzene kept decreasing during the whole maturity period. The reletive content of solanascone was very low in mature leaves.

Key words: Flue-cured lobacco, Aromatic components, GC/MS, Maturity