Department of Tea Science, College of Food Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Ice Island Mountain Tea Company, Mengku Town, Shuangjiang Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, China.
Food Chem. 2023 Dec 15;429:136992. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136992. Epub 2023 Jul 27.
Tea head, a derivative product of Pu-erh tea, are tight tea lumps formed during pile-fermentation. The aim of this study was to reveal the differences of quality-related metabolites and microbial communities between ripened Pu-erh tea (PE-21) and tea heads (CT-21). Compared with PE-21, CT-21 showed a more mellow and smooth taste with slight bitterness and astringency, and can withstand multiple infusions. Metabolites analysis indicated CT-21 had more abundant water-soluble substances (47.39%) and showed significant differences with PE-21 in the main compositions of amino acids, catechins and saccharides which contributed to the viscosity of tea liquor, mellow taste and the tight tea lumps formation. Microbial communities and COG annotation analysis revealed CT-21 had lower abundance of Bacteria (84.05%), and higher abundance of Eukaryota (15.10%), carbohydrate transport and metabolism (8.28%) and glycoside hydrolases (37.36%) compared with PE-21. The different microbial communities may cause metabolites changes, forming distinct flavor of Pu-erh.
茶头，一种普洱熟茶的衍生品，是在堆积发酵过程中形成的紧实茶块。本研究旨在揭示成熟普洱（PE-21）和茶头（CT-21）之间与品质相关的代谢物和微生物群落的差异。与 PE-21 相比，CT-21 口感更加醇厚、顺滑，略带苦味和涩味，且耐多次冲泡。代谢物分析表明，CT-21 含有更丰富的水溶性物质（47.39%），且与 PE-21 相比，在氨基酸、儿茶素和糖类的主要成分上存在显著差异，这些差异导致了茶汤的粘稠度、醇厚口感和紧实茶块的形成。微生物群落和 COG 注释分析表明，与 PE-21 相比，CT-21 中的细菌丰度较低（84.05%），真核生物丰度较高（15.10%），碳水化合物的运输和代谢（8.28%）以及糖苷水解酶（37.36%）丰度较高。不同的微生物群落可能导致代谢物的变化，形成独特的普洱风味。
