At present, the quality evaluation system of flue-cured tobacco lacks stable and quantitative neutral characterization indexes. Petroleum ether extract (PEE) is closely related to the aroma and oil content of tobacco leaves, but its feasibility as a quality evaluation index is not clear. To explore whether the content of PEE in the initial cured tobacco leaves can be used as an indicator for evaluating tobacco leaf quality, the middle and upper leaves of the tobacco variety ‘Yunyan 97’ from Xuancheng area in the years 2023 and 2024 were used as experimental materials, multivariate statistical methods were employed to analyze the correlation between PEE content and conventional chemical components, appearance and sensory quality. The results showed that the PEE content in middle and upper cured leaves generally followed a normal distribution. For middle leaves, significant positive correlations with PEE content were found for total potassium, total nitrogen, nicotine, oil, color intensity and appearance quality score(P˂0.01), while significant negative correlations were observed for total sugar content, reducing sugar content and sugar to nicotine ratio (P˂0.01). For upper leaves, significant positive correlations with PEE content were identified for the content of total potassium, total nitrogen, nicotine, and color intensity, color (P˂0.01), as well as for oil content, sweetness, aroma quality and aroma quantity (P<0.05), significant negative correlations were found for the content of total sugar, reduced sugar, total phosphorus and sugar to nicotine ratio, offensive odor, total sensory quality score (P˂0.01), as well as for smoothness, irritation and aftertaste (P˂0.05). Regression models with both R² and adjusted R²>0.500 were established : Y_{middle, PEE}=6.715＋0.712X_{total nitrogen}＋1.350X_{total potassium}-0.236X_{total sugar}, Y_middle,PEE=-0.839＋0.578X_{color intensity}＋0.395X_oil; Y_upper,PEE=3.105＋1.562X_{total nitrogen}＋0.506X_nicotine-0.014X_{total sugar}, Y_upper,PEE=1.124＋0.833X_{color intensity}＋0.036X_oil, Y_upper,PEE=7.839＋0.471X_{quality of aroma}-1.218X_aftertaste＋0.385X_sweetness. In conclusion, PEE is closely related to the quality of flue-cured leaves. PEE content can be used as a potential indicator for evaluating the quality of the flue-cured leaves in Southern Anhui. The research results provide a new basis and method for the accurate evaluation, production regulation and industrial grading of regional flue-cured tobacco quality. In the future, the coupling mechanism between key components of PEE and sensory quality can be further analyzed.