<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The present study describes a reliable technique for the analysis of free amino acids in tobacco leaf. The levels of amino acids in tobacco are important since they are related to both tobacco quality and the potential generation in cigarette smoke of toxicants having amino acid precursors. Other techniques used in the past for amino acid analysis have various shortcomings that were avoided in the present method. The new method uses HPLC separation and a tandem mass spectrometer for detection with no derivatization step as sample preparation. The separation has been obtained using ion pair HPLC on a reversed phase column that offers excellent chromatographic resolution. The MS/MS detection procedure offers very good sensitivity and positive identification of the analytes. The procedure was fully validated and can be used for the analysis of 24 amino acids. It was applied for the quantitation of amino acids from 16 types of tobacco including flue-cured and Burley, some domestic and some not grown in the USA, two types of Oriental tobacco, and from tobacco of a 3R4F Kentucky reference and a common commercial cigarette. It was shown that the analysis provides useful information regarding the amino acid level variation between tobacco types, between tobacco stalk positions, and between the growing locations of different tobaccos. [Beitr. Tabakforsch. Int. 26 (2015) 334-343] </p></abstract>

The present study describes a reliable technique for the analysis of free amino acids in tobacco leaf. The levels of amino acids in tobacco are important since they are related to both tobacco quality and the potential generation in cigarette smoke of toxicants having amino acid precursors. Other techniques used in the past for amino acid analysis have various shortcomings that were avoided in the present method. The new method uses HPLC separation and a tandem mass spectrometer for detection with no derivatization step as sample preparation. The separation has been obtained using ion pair HPLC on a reversed phase column that offers excellent chromatographic resolution. The MS/MS detection procedure offers very good sensitivity and positive identification of the analytes. The procedure was fully validated and can be used for the analysis of 24 amino acids. It was applied for the quantitation of amino acids from 16 types of tobacco including flue-cured and Burley, some domestic and some not grown in the USA, two types of Oriental tobacco, and from tobacco of a 3R4F Kentucky reference and a common commercial cigarette. It was shown that the analysis provides useful information regarding the amino acid level variation between tobacco types, between tobacco stalk positions, and between the growing locations of different tobaccos. [Beitr. Tabakforsch. Int. 26 (2015) 334-343]

Evaluation of the Content of Free Amino Acids in Tobacco by a New Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Technique

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 950 Reynolds Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC, 27105, USA

Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories, Inc., 950 Reynolds Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC, 27105, USA

Contributions to Tobacco & Nicotine Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The present study describes a reliable technique for the analysis of free amino acids in tobacco leaf. The levels of amino acids in tobacco are important since...

Evaluation of the Content of Free Amino Acids in Tobacco by a New Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Technique

Published Online: Oct 20, 2015

Page range: 334 - 343

Received: Feb 26, 2015

Accepted: Aug 27, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cttr-2015-0023

Keywords
Amino acids, tobacco, LC-MS/MS, HPLC-fluorescence

© Beiträge zur Tabakforschung International

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Evaluation of the Content of Free Amino Acids in Tobacco by a New Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Technique

Published Online: Oct 20, 2015

Page range: 334 - 343

Received: Feb 26, 2015

Accepted: Aug 27, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cttr-2015-0023

KeywordsAmino acids, tobacco, LC-MS/MS, HPLC-fluorescence

© Beiträge zur Tabakforschung International

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Amino acids, tobacco, LC-MS/MS, HPLC-fluorescence