Uncovering the integrated metabolic profile of honey tea wine fermented by single and mixed yeast fermentation

Honey tea wine is a kind of alcoholic drink made from green tea and honey by yeast. However, the mechanisms behind flavor variations caused by different microbial strains remain unclear. This study aims to compare the metabolic profiles of honey tea wine under single and mixed-culture fermentation using untargeted metabolomics. Results showed that mixed fermentation reduced ethanol content by 0.51% (ν/v) but increased total phenols and flavonoids by 0.44 g/L and 0.34 g/L, respectively, compared to single fermentation. The mixed fermentation exhibited a greater diversity of volatile compounds and higher concentration levels compared to the single fermentation, with esters showing significantly elevated content. Differential metabolite analysis revealed that nucleotides, amino acids, sugars, and organic acids were key discriminators, linked to seven major metabolic pathways, including purine and pyruvate metabolism. Mixed fermentation significantly enhanced the content of bioactive compounds, including vitamins and protocatechuic acid. Our findings establish the metabolic framework and production protocol of honey wine tea, offering mechanistic insights to enhance tea and honey resource utilization via advanced processing strategies.