Metabolomics reveals the effects of different storage times on the acidity quality and metabolites of large-leaf black tea

Suwan Zhang; Qiuhua Li; Shuai Wen; Lingli Sun; Ruohong Chen; Zhenbiao Zhang; Junxi Cao; Zhaoxiang Lai; Zhigang Li; Xingfei Lai; Ping Wu; Shili Sun; Zhongzheng Chen

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136601

Metabolomics reveals the effects of different storage times on the acidity quality and metabolites of large-leaf black tea

Food Chem. 2023 Nov 15:426:136601. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136601. Epub 2023 Jun 10.

Authors

Suwan Zhang¹, Qiuhua Li², Shuai Wen³, Lingli Sun⁴, Ruohong Chen⁵, Zhenbiao Zhang⁶, Junxi Cao⁷, Zhaoxiang Lai⁸, Zhigang Li⁹, Xingfei Lai¹⁰, Ping Wu¹¹, Shili Sun¹², Zhongzheng Chen¹³

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: swzhang1502@163.com.
² Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: liqiuhua@tea.gdaas.cn.
³ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: wenshuai@tea.gdaas.cn.
⁴ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: sunlingli@tea.gdaas.cn.
⁵ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: chenruohong@tea.gdaas.cn.
⁶ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: zhangzhenbiao@tea.gdaas.cn.
⁷ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: caojunxi@tea.gdaas.cn.
⁸ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: laizhaoxiang@tea.gdaas.cn.
⁹ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: lizhigang@tea.gdaas.cn.
¹⁰ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: laixingfei@tea.gdaas.cn.
¹¹ Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: wuping@tea.gdaas.cn.
¹² Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: sunshili@zju.edu.cn.
¹³ College of Food Science/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: zhongzhengch@scau.edu.cn.

PMID: 37329793
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136601

Abstract

Most aged tea has superior sensory qualities and good health benefits. The content of organic acids determines of the quality and biological effects of aged tea, but there are no reports of the effect of storage on the composition and relative proportion of acidic compounds in black tea. This study analyzed and compared the sourness and metabolite profile of black tea produced in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 using pH determination and UPLC-MS/MS. In total, 28 acidic substances were detected, with 17 organic acids predominating. The pH of black tea decreased significantly during storage from pH 4.64 to pH 4.25 with significantly increased in l-ascorbic acid, salicylic acid, benzoic acid and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. The metabolic pathways ascorbate biosynthesis, salicylate degradation, toluene degradation, etc. were mainly enriched. These findings provide a theoretical basis to regulate the acidity of aged black tea.

Keywords: Acid flavor; Aged black tea; Extensively targeted metabolomics; Organic acid; Phenolic acid.

MeSH terms

Camellia sinensis* / chemistry
Chromatography, Liquid
Metabolomics
Plant Leaves / chemistry
Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Tea* / chemistry

Substances

Tea