Effects of Different Drying Methods on the Quality of Scented Tea.

Flower tea is widely loved as a drink, especially for the beautiful and rich flowers of the orchid family, and the drying method for different flowers is also unique. GC-MS is widely used to study volatile substances to determine the quality of flower teas. The findings show that the freeze-drying method can retain the original aroma and flavor of has the highest sensory evaluation score, with the key flavor substances ethyl caproate and -heptanal containing 1.14% and 6.28%, respectively, and their ROAV values reaching 54.46 and 100.00. Additionally, the freeze-drying method can well retain flavonoids, polysaccharides, and phenolic components, while providing better antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The stove-drying method would make slightly burnt and less flavorful and efficacious than freeze-drying; the air-drying method is difficult to retain the special odor and fragrance of flowers and has the lowest sensory evaluation score, with the presence of volatile components with irritating and unpleasant odors such as pyrazine and 2-pentylfuran, while not showing better efficacy. In addition, steam fixation would destroy the morphology and flavor of , lose polysaccharide and phenolic components, and reduce the efficacy of scented tea, but could retain the flavonoid components well. In summary, direct freeze-drying without steam fixation is the best process for drying scented tea, stove-drying without steam fixation is more economical and convenient in actual production and application, steam fixation and air-drying are not suitable as drying processes for scented tea. This study analyzed the quality of scented tea under different drying methods, promoted the further processing of scented tea, and provided a reference for the comprehensive utilization of scented tea.