Abstract
The changes in the lipid components of tobacco leaves during flue-curing were investigated. The contents of total fatty acid methyl esters and linolenate decreased considerably, though a temporary increase was observed at the early period of the yellowing stage. The amounts of digalactosyl diglyceride (DGDG), monogalactosyl diglyceride (MGDG), sulfoquinovosyl diglyceride and phosphatidyl glycerol decreased markedly while phosphatidyl inositol, phos-phatidyl serine and phosphatidyl choline were relatively resistant to the degradation process. MGDG and DGDG were found to have high proportions of linolenate while most phos-pholipids had high proportions of palmitate. Considerable decrease was observed in the ratio of linolenate in most polar lipids while the ratio of palmitate and stearate showed a significant increase.
