Abstract: The aroma is one of the most important determinants of the quality of tea. Studies have shown that tea contains a small amount of key aroma compounds which are of significant interest to researchers because of their important contribution to tea aroma quality. In this paper, the recent progress in research on the key aroma compounds of tea is reviewed by summarizing the existing methods used to analyze and identify these compounds and the key aroma compounds identified from the major tea types (green tea, black tea, oolong tea and dark tea) and reprocessed tea (mainly refers to scented tea). Future research directions are discussed as well. The existing research outcomes enrich the basic chemical theory of tea flavor quality and provide a scientific basis for improving the modern tea processing technology and regulating the quality of tea aroma.

Key words: tea, aroma, key aroma compounds, identification methods