ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Food Chemistry
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1587413
Exploring the effect of different tea varieties on the quality of Sichuan Congou black tea based on metabolomic analysis and sensory science
Provisionally accepted
Liran Yang1*
Xueping Luo1*
Qi Wang1,2Mingli Liu3Jingna Yan1Congming Wang1Yuanhua Xian1Kangli Peng1
Kunyi Liu1Bin Jiang1- 1Yibin Vocational and Technical College, Yibin, China
- 2College of Modern Agriculture, Yibin Vocational and Technical College, Yibin, Sichuan Province, China
- 3Research Institute of Tea Industry of Yibin, Yibin, China
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Sichuan Congou Black Tea (SCGBT), one of China's top three high-aroma black teas, enjoys widespread consumer popularity. However, research into optimal processing varieties remains insufficient. This study assessed the quality of SCGBT produced from eight tea varieties: 'Fudingdabai' (FDDB), 'Zhongcha 302' (ZC302), 'Wuniuzao' (WNZ), 'Chuancha 2' (CC2), 'Fuxuan 9' (FX9), 'Mingshan 131' (MS131), 'Zhongcha 108' (ZC108), and 'Huangjinya' (HJY). Sensory evaluation, quantitative chemical analysis, and metabolomics techniques were employed. Results indicated that HJY, ZC302, and MS131 exhibited strong sweetness, umami, and mellowness, while CC2, FX9, and ZC108 were characterized by intense bitterness and astringency, attributed to high tea polyphenol levels and low free amino acid concentrations. The quality of WNZ and FDDB was relatively average. Using non-targeted metabolomics, 4476 metabolite ion features were detected, and 75 significantly differential metabolites were identified (p < 0.05 and VIP > 1.0). Correlation analysis revealed that metabolites such as valine, L-glutamic acid, asparagine, L-serine, kaempferol-3-O-sophoroside-7-O-glucoside, quercetin-7-O-glucoside, L-tyrosine, and L-norleucine significantly influenced the taste of the tea infusion (|r| > 0.8, p < 0.05). Elevated levels of amino acids (L-glutamic acid and asparagine) and phenolic acids (gallic acid) contributed to the umami of HJY, ZC302, and MS131. Astringency was primarily determined by variations in flavonol/flavone and flavonol/flavone glycosides, as well as ester catechins.Additionally, the content of sweet-tasting amino acids and non-ester catechins was found to fluctuate. In summary, ZC302, MS131, and HJY are more suitable for processing into higher-grade SCGBT. These findings provide a theoretical and practical foundation for selecting and breeding high-quality SCGBT varieties and ensuring consistent product quality.
Keywords: Tea varieties, Sichuan Congou black tea, Metabolomics, Taste, Correlation analysis
Received: 04 Mar 2025; Accepted: 23 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Luo, Wang, Liu, Yan, Wang, Xian, Peng, Liu and Jiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Liran Yang, Yibin Vocational and Technical College, Yibin, China
Xueping Luo, Yibin Vocational and Technical College, Yibin, China
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