Insight into the Volatile Profiles and Key Odorants of Rizhao Green Tea by Application of SBSE-GC-MS, OAVs and GC-O...

Rizhao green tea (RZT), a renowned green tea, is cultivated in China's northernmost tea region. Its unique environment endows it with a strong chestnut- and seaweed-like aroma. This study sought to explore the volatile profiles of RZT and pinpoint its key odorants by employing stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), determining the odor activity value (OAV), and performing gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O). A total of 112 volatiles were identified, and the major volatile compounds were esters (2035.25 μg/kg), alcohols (1799.02 μg/kg), alkanes (991.88 μg/kg), and ketones (691.96 μg/kg), comprising 74.91% of the total. A molecular aroma wheel was preliminarily established based on these key odorants. These insights might contribute to the scientific elucidation of the flavor chemical basis of RZT.