Chemical constituents of green teas processed from albino tea cultivars with white and yellow shoots

Jihong Yang; Hanchen Zhou; Yaqin Liu; Hui Wang; Yujie Xu; Jianqin Huang; Pandeng Lei

doi:10.1016/j.fochms.2022.100143

Chemical constituents of green teas processed from albino tea cultivars with white and yellow shoots

Food Chem (Oxf). 2022 Oct 31:5:100143. doi: 10.1016/j.fochms.2022.100143. eCollection 2022 Dec 30.

Authors

Jihong Yang¹, Hanchen Zhou¹, Yaqin Liu¹, Hui Wang¹, Yujie Xu¹, Jianqin Huang¹, Pandeng Lei¹

Affiliation

¹ Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Huangshan 245000, China.

Abstract

Green tea processed from albino tea varieties often has umami taste and fresh aroma. This study identified green teas made from two types of albino tea cultivar, one having the white shoots (called Naibai, NB) and the other having the yellow shoots (called Huangjinya, HJY). Taste compounds analyses showed that galloylated catechins were highly concentrated in HJY green teas, whereas non-galloylated catechins and amino acids were more abundant in NB green teas. CsTA (involved in the catabolism of galloylated catechins) showed high expression in HJY tea shoots, resulting in gallic acid as a precursor for β-glucogallin biosynthesis being abundant in HJY. CsPDX2.1 (responsible for theanine hydrolyzation) had a lower expression level in NB than HJY shoots. Fatty acid-derived volatiles (FADVs), glycosidically bound volatiles (GBVs) and carotenoid-derived volatiles (CDVs) were highly concentrated in HJY green teas, whereas amino acids-derived volatiles were highly concentrated in NB green teas.

Keywords: ACI, aroma character impact; Albino tea cultivar; C, catechin; CDVs, carotenoid–derived volatiles; Catabolism; DOT, dose–over–threshold; EC, epicatechin; ECG, epicatechin gallate; EGC, epigallocatechin; EGCG, epigallocatechin gallate; FADVs, fatty acid–derived volatiles; GA, gallic acid; GBVs, glycosidically bound volatiles; GCG, gallocatechin gallate; GC–MS, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry; Green tea; HS-SPME, headspace solid–phase microextraction; OAV, odor activity value; PCA, principal component analysis; Taste compounds; VIP, variance importance values; Volatile compounds.