The Chemistry, Sensory Properties and Health Benefits of Aroma Compounds of Black Tea Produced by Camellia sinensis and Camellia assamica

Abstract

Black tea is frequently consumed worldwide and is renowned for having a distinctive scent. The volatile chemicals in tea are responsible for its aroma, which is important for sensory quality. The enzymatic and non-enzymatic processes that produce the compounds endowing black tea with its distinctive aroma are complex. Black tea is well known for its robust and complex aroma, which can vary based on the type of tea leaves used and processing technologies used. During the production of black tea, several intricate biological and chemical processes contribute to the aroma’s development. Different volatile chemicals are generated during the processing of black tea, which includes withering, rolling, fermentation (enzymatic oxidation), and drying. Various methods have been used to analyze and describe the aroma of black tea. Different methods, such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, olfactometry, and solid phase extraction, have been used to assess the fragrance of black tea. These methods evaluate characteristics including fruity, flowery, woody, malty, spicy, and smoky flavors. Phenyl ethyl alcohol, one-octen-3-ol, trans-linalool oxide (furanoid), geraniol, and nonanal are major aroma-active compounds in black tea. Sensory analytic techniques are used to assess black tea’s flavor and scent qualities. This assessment helps figure out the tea’s quality, unique characteristics, and even some unpleasant attributes. Black tea is mostly made from Camellia sinensis and Camellia assamica tea varieties. These two varieties, members of the Camellia genus, differ in their development patterns, leaf sizes, and chemical makeup, impacting how black tea’s scent is formed. When evaluating black tea made from Camellia sinensis and assamica, sensory analysis involved assessing the aroma when the tea was dry and, after brewing, noting any differences from other teas. This review focused on how key aromatic compounds are formed during the tea manufacturing process by Camellia sinensis and Camellia assamica black tea.

Development of Mussaenda frondosa sepal infused functional tea with enhanced antioxidant and alpha amylase inhibitory activities

“…Tea (Camellia sinensis), the world's most widely consumed beverage, has been extensively studied in the past few years for its antioxidant and radical scavenging activities. The unique taste and avor of tea can be attributed to its composition of color and avor-generating compounds, such as dietary polyphenols, benzotrpolone compounds (thea avins, thearubigins), tea catechins such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), epicatechin (EC), methylxanthines (such as caffeine, theobromine, theophylline), and some amino acids [14][15][16][17]. However, it has been reported that the bioaccessibility of these active components is often suboptimal to produce the desired response from conventional tea consumption [18].…”

Morphological variation and expressed sequence tags-simple sequence repeats-based genetic diversity of Aspergillus cristatus in Chinese dark tea

“…The generated amino acids contribute components that improve tea aroma and flavor ( Yu and Yang, 2020 ). During tea processing, polyphenol oxidase facilitates the production of pigments, such as theaflavins and thearubigins ( Zheng et al, 2016 ; Wang et al, 2022b ; Parveen et al, 2023 ). This reaction lowers the bitterness of the tea soup, while deepening its color intensity.…”

Tea Quality of the Mysterious “Dahongpao Mother Tree” (Camellia sinensis)

“…On the above analysis, this study used TOPSIS to analyze the importance of 57 characteristic volatile compounds in the process of distinguishing MD from PD and found that (Figure 2E), only 8 characteristic volatile compounds had a weight of 10% or more, namely methyl salicylate (61.32%), (E)-3-hexen-1-ol acetate (49.79%), (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol acetate (49.79%), 1,6-dihydrocarveol (17.27%), gamma-terpineol (17.27%), dihydromyrcenol (16.16%), linalyl acetate (13.80%), and 2-isobutylpyrazine (10.93%). Of eight characteristic volatile compounds that are considered essential to odor characteristics of tea, methyl salicylate, (E)-3-hexen-1-ol acetate, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol acetate, and 2-isobutylpyrazine mainly have a fruity odor characteristic [20][21][22][23], dihydromyrcenol has a floral odor characteristic [24], 1,6-dihydrocarveol has a green odor characteristic [25], and gamma-terpineol and linalyl acetate have a woody odor characteristic [26,27]. It can be seen that MD and PD differed mainly in fruity, floral, green, and woody odor characteristics, while the difference in the content of volatile compounds of different odor characteristics may lead to the difference in the intensity of different odor characteristics between MD and PD.…”