Application of Pattern Recognition Method for Color Assessment of Oriental Tobacco based on HPLC of Polyphenols

The color of Oriental tobaccos was organoleptically assayed, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of polyphenols was performed. The major tobacco polyphenols (chlorogenic acid, its isomers, and rutin), as well as scopoletin and kaempferol-3-rutinoside were quantified. HPLC polyphenol profiles were processed by pattern recognition method (PRM), and the values of indexes of similarity (Is,%) between the cultivars studied were determined. It was shown that data from organoleptic color assessment and from PRM based on HPLC profiles of polyphenols of the cultivars studied are largely compatible. Hence, PRM can be suggested as an additional tool for objective color evaluation and classification of Oriental tobacco.