Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, after water. Although representing an important domestic commodity, due to its unique aroma and taste, and its comprehensive health benefits, world tea production is continuously increasing. Although the identification of tea volatiles has been subject of research for almost two centuries, sensory guided studies, aimed at characterizing the key aroma compounds among the bunch of odorless volatiles by means of the Sensomics approach, are scarcely available. Hence, this approach has been applied to a freshly infused Chinese high-grade green tea beverage manufactured in a traditional, artisanal manner. On the basis of the application of an aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA), quantitations by means of stable isotope dilution assays (SIDAs), and calculation of the odor activity values (OAV; ratio of concentration to odor threshold), the key aroma compounds of the tea beverage could be unraveled. An aqueous recombinate, consisting of all key aroma compounds in the natural concentrations in the tea beverage, successfully mimicked the overall odor of the tea brew. In further experiments, quantitative measurements on the presence of the aroma compounds in tea leaves treated by the traditional handcrafted process clearly elucidated the influence of processing on changes in the aroma compounds.

Characterization of the key aroma compounds in Chinese high-grade green tea beverage (Camellia Sinensis) and studies on changes in tea leaves induced by the traditional manufacturing

254th National Meeting (2017)

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