Abstract:

This paper analyzes the aroma components in black tea with different durations of oxygen ventilation during
the fermentation process by the combination of head space-solid-phase micro-extraction and gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). The results showed that 47 kinds of aroma compounds were identified in naturally
fermented black tea while 53, 48, 79, 72 and 77 kinds of aroma compounds were identified in fermented black tea samples
with oxygen ventilation for 45, 60, 75, 90 and 105 min, respectively. Alcohols were the dominant aroma components in all
the six samples and their contents accounted for more than 60% of the total aroma components, followed sequentially by
esters, aldehydes, and ketones hydrocarbon. Comparative analysis indicated that oxygen ventilation during the fermentation
process did not change the main aroma components of black tea from the same tea cultivar and even resulted in the formation
of more aroma compounds.

Key words: black tea, fermentation with oxygen ventilation, head space-solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), aroma