Li Wen, Zhang Zhenbiao, Chen Ruohong, Sun Lingli, Lai Xingfei, Li Qiuhua, Hao Mengjiao, Zhang Suwang, Li Qian, Sun Shili, Chen Zhongzheng
College of Food Science/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P.R. China.
Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation & Utilization, Guangzhou 510640, China.
Food Funct. 2025 May 6;16(9):3707-3720. doi: 10.1039/d5fo00232j.
Soluble sugars are indeed key factors in the formation of tea sweetness quality. However, the specific impact they exert on tea sweetness has not been clearly elucidated. Consequently, in this study, one bud and two leaves of the same tea variety were utilized to produce six types of tea for sensory evaluation, electronic tongue analysis, and targeted sugar metabolomics analysis, aiming to systematically assess the influence of soluble sugars on the sweetness contribution in different teas. The results obtained from sensory evaluation and the electronic tongue indicate that the sweetness order of various teas is green tea (GT) > yellow tea (YT) > dark tea (DT) > oolong tea (OT) > black tea (BT) > white tea (WT). Through metabolomics, 26 crucial differential metabolites were identified, among which sucrose, inositol, D-fructose, glucose, and D-arabinitol constitute the main sugar components that distinguish the sweetness characteristics of the six types of tea. This study offers a comprehensive and detailed overview of the effects of commonly employed processing methods on the sweetness quality of tea as well as its metabolic properties. It thereby lays a solid theoretical foundation for optimizing processing techniques to enhance the sweetness quality of tea and to better serve tea production practices.
可溶性糖确实是形成茶叶甜味品质的关键因素。然而，它们对茶叶甜味产生的具体影响尚未得到明确阐释。因此，在本研究中，选用同一茶树品种的一芽二叶制作六种茶，用于感官评价、电子舌分析和靶向糖代谢组学分析，旨在系统评估可溶性糖对不同茶叶甜味贡献的影响。感官评价和电子舌的结果表明，各类茶的甜味顺序为绿茶（GT）> 黄茶（YT）> 黑茶（DT）> 乌龙茶（OT）> 红茶（BT）> 白茶（WT）。通过代谢组学，鉴定出26种关键差异代谢物，其中蔗糖、肌醇、D-果糖、葡萄糖和D-阿拉伯糖醇构成了区分六种茶甜味特征的主要糖类成分。本研究全面详细地概述了常用加工方法对茶叶甜味品质及其代谢特性的影响。从而为优化加工工艺以提高茶叶甜味品质并更好地服务于茶叶生产实践奠定了坚实的理论基础。
