Abstract: The taste quality and chemical composition of sugar-free green tea beverages from different producing areas were analyzed. In order to clarify the main taste components in sugar-free green tea beverages, explored the differences in taste characteristics between green tea beverages from different regions. The results showed that the taste and color difference of green tea beverages from different producing areas were not obvious, and the overrall taste quality of Japanese green tea beverages was superior. The concentrations of tea polyphenol, caffeine, flavonoids, soluble sugar, total catechins, total flavonoid glycosides and total amount of cations in Japanese and Chinese Taiwanese green tea beverages were significantly higher than those in Mainland of China. There were 13 chemical components showed higher correlation with sensory scores, and the mass concentrations of tea polyphphenols (0.910**), flavonoids (0.917**), Mn2＋ (0.912**) were significantly positively correlated with the taste strength of green tea beverages. The mass concentration of caffeine (0.830**) was significantly positively correlated with the bitterness of green tea beverages; while the concentrations of vitexin-2''-O-rhamnoside (0.862**) and Al3＋ (0.811**) were significant positive correlation with the astringency of green tea beverages. The Dot value(Dose-over-Threshold) analysis showed that flavonoids and their glycosides contributed mainly to the astringency of sugar-free green tea beverages, including Quercetin-3-o-rutinoside(Que-rut), Kaempferol-3-o-rutinoside(Kae-rut), Quercetin-3-o-galactoside(Que-gala), Quercetin-3-o-glucoside(Que-glu), Myricetin-3-o-galactoside(Myr-Gala), Vitexin-2′′-o-rhamnoside(Vit-rha), of which Que-rut has the highest Dot value; and caffeine played a major role in the bitterness of sugar-free green tea beverages.

Key words: green tea beverages, sugar-free, taste characteristics, chemical compositions