Effect of the type of brewing water on the sensory and physicochemical properties of light-scented and strong-scented Tieguanyin oolong teas

Yuan-Yuan Ma; Jie-Qiong Wang; Ying Gao; Qing-Qing Cao; Fang Wang; Jian-Xin Chen; Zhi-Hui Feng; Jun-Feng Yin; Yong-Quan Xu

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2023.101099

Effect of the type of brewing water on the sensory and physicochemical properties of light-scented and strong-scented Tieguanyin oolong teas

Food Chem X. 2023 Dec 23:21:101099. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2023.101099. eCollection 2024 Mar 30.

Authors

Yuan-Yuan Ma^{1

2}, Jie-Qiong Wang^{1

2}, Ying Gao¹, Qing-Qing Cao¹, Fang Wang¹, Jian-Xin Chen¹, Zhi-Hui Feng¹, Jun-Feng Yin¹, Yong-Quan Xu¹

Affiliations

¹ Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology, Genetics and Breeding of Special Economic Animals and Plants, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 9 South Meiling Road, Hangzhou 310008, China.
² Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.

Abstract

Variations in the quality of brewing water profoundly impact tea flavor. This study systematically investigated the effects of four common water sources, including pure water (PW), mountain spring water (MSW), mineral water (MW) and natural water (NW) on the flavor of Tieguanyin tea infusion. Brewing with MW resulted in a flat taste and turbid aroma, mainly due to the low leaching of tea flavor components and complex interactions with mineral ions (mainly Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺). Tea infusions brewed with NW exhibited the highest relative contents of total volatile compounds, while those brewed with PW had the lowest. NW and MSW, with moderate mineralization, were conducive to improving the aroma quality of tea infusion and were more suitable for brewing both aroma types of Tieguanyin. These findings offer valuable insights into the effect of brewing water on the sensory and physicochemical properties of oolong teas.

Keywords: (+)-Catechin (PubChem CID: 1203); (−)-Catechin gallate (PubChem CID: 6419835); (−)-Epicatechin (PubChem CID: 72276); (−)-Epicatechin gallate (PubChem CID: 367141); (−)-Epigallocatechin (PubChem CID: 72277); (−)-Epigallocatechin gallate (PubChem CID: 65064); (−)-Gallocatechin (PubChem CID: 9882981); (−)-Gallocatechin gallate (PubChem CID: 199472); Brewing water; Taste-contributing metabolites; Tieguanyin oolong tea; Volatile components.