{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T03:10:59Z","timestamp":1792552259417,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]],"date-time":"2026-04-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776211200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Tobacco is a globally significant agricultural commodity, in which analytical chemistry plays a pivotal role for quality assessment. This study aimed to develop an integrated analytical strategy to decipher the quality traits of flue-cured tobacco cultivars. An integrated framework combining sensory evaluation, biochemical characterization, and volatile organic compound (VOC) profiling was applied to eleven flue-cured tobacco cultivars. Statistical analyses included hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) based on VOC data, and Spearman correlation analysis (with Bonferroni correction) to explore relationships between sensory attributes, biochemical components, and VOCs. Sensory analysis categorized the cultivars into two groups: Group I (YN228, YN105, YN223, GY20, and YN87) scored higher in aftertaste, offensive taste, and moistness, while Group II (YN222, XY7, NC103, TZ113, GY2, and XZ01) excelled in aroma quality and cleanness. Biochemical profiling also revealed two distinct groups: Group I (YN228, TZ113, NC103, and YN87) had higher nitrogen and alkaloid contents, whereas Group II (YN222, XY7, GY20, XZ01, GY2, YN105, and YN223) exhibited elevated sugar and potassium levels. VOC-based HCA and PLS-DA identified three chemical clades and highlighted 75 VOCs (VIP &amp;gt; 1.0) as key differentiators. Significant correlations were established between biochemical components and sensory attributes; notably, total sugar content was positively correlated with irritancy, aroma quality, and smoke concentration. Specific VOCs, such as (furan-2-yl)methanol and 3-oxo-\u03b1-ionol, showed significant positive correlations with moistness and smoke concentration, respectively, while phenol was negatively correlated with aroma quality. This study establishes a reproducible sensory-omics framework that provides a robust analytical foundation for the quality assessment of agricultural products. The findings demonstrate the practical value of integrated analytical approaches in addressing complex quality assessment challenges, offering actionable insights for the evaluation and potential improvement of tobacco cultivars.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2026.1802390","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]],"date-time":"2026-04-15T05:45:30Z","timestamp":1776231930000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Discriminating flue-cured tobacco cultivars based on sensory quality and their underlying volatile and chemical profiles"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yanguo","family":"Ke","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Yunnan Urban Agricultural Engineering and Technological Research Center, College of Economics and Management, Kunming University","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shimeng","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yunnan Tobacco company Zhaotong Company","place":["Zhaotong, Yunnan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fang","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yunnan Tobacco company Zhaotong Company","place":["Zhaotong, Yunnan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lihua","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yunnan Tobacco company Zhaotong Company","place":["Zhaotong, Yunnan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhongjian","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ornamental Plant Germplasm Innovation and Utilization, Environmental Horticulture Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Guangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ying","family":"Zou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yunnan Urban Agricultural Engineering and Technological Research Center, College of Economics and Management, Kunming University","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Farhat","family":"Abbas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Tropical Fruit Trees, Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences\/Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Utilization of Tropical Fruits and Vegetables (Co-construction by Ministry and Province)\/Key Laboratory of Tropical Fruit Tree Biology of Hainan Province","place":["Haikou, Hainan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yiwei","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ornamental Plant Germplasm Innovation and Utilization, Environmental Horticulture Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Guangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junzhang","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yunnan Tobacco company Zhaotong Company","place":["Zhaotong, Yunnan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4238\/gmr18058","article-title":"Morphological, physiological, and biochemical indicators of quality in tobacco fruits and seeds","volume":"17","author":"Andrade","year":"2018","journal-title":"Genet. 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