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Original article Analysis of chemical components in oolong tea in relation to perceived quality
Kunbo Wang, Fang Liu, Zhonghua Liu,* Jianan Huang,* Zhongxi Xu, Yinhua Li, Jinhua Chen, Yushun Gong & Xinghe Yang
Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education & Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Innovation and Utilization, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan 410128, China (Received 21 October 2009; Accepted in revised form 2 February 2010)

Summary

Properties of leaf and infusion colours, chemical components and volatile avour compounds of oolong teas and their correlation with perceived quality score given by tea-tasting panel were analysed. The scores for appearance and infused leaf correlated strongly with concentrations of chlorophyll a (chl a), chlorophyll (chl b) and chlorophyll (chl) (r = 0.3550.433, P < 0.05) and the total quality score (TQS) positively correlated with concentrations of chl a, chl b and chl (r = 0.5170.533, P < 0.01). The perceived taste score and TQS positively correlated with the concentration of total free amino acid (r = 0.514, 0.694, P < 0.01) and theanine (r = 0.500, 0.684, P < 0.01). The volatile composition and their quantities varied widely among oolong tea samples. Nerolidol, indole, benzeneacetaldehyde, linalool, linalool oxide I, hexanal, benzyl nitrile, geraniol and 1-penten-3-ol were prevailing volatile compounds detected in most of oolong tea samples. Principal component analysis screened ten principal components with the rst three (glutamic acid, total catechins and benzeneacetaldehyde) explaining 27.86%, 20.00% and 14.46% of the total variance, respectively. Regression analysis upon the ten principal components formulated a prediction model on the total quality score with 78.5% probability. The result showed that oolong teas could be partially classied by cluster analysis based on principal components.
Aroma, chemical analysis, colour, oolong tea, perceived quality score, sensory evaluation, taste.

Keywords

Introduction

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide. There are three types of tea: green, oolong and black. Oolong tea is partially fermented during processing, whereas green tea is not fermented and black tea is fully fermented. Oolong tea is manufactured predominantly in Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan provinces of China. It is well established that the avour of tea is principally determined by chemical components it contains, such as volatile compounds contributing to the property of aroma and nonvolatile compounds to the taste (Hara et al., 1995; Scharbert & Hofmann, 2005). Considerable attempts have been made to link the sensory assessment of tea quality index to chemical compounds for black tea (Liang et al., 2003; Scharbert
*Correspondent: Fax: +86 73184635306; e-mail: zhonghualiu163@163.com

& Hofmann, 2005), green tea (Wang & Ruan, 2009), pu-erh tea (Liang et al., 2005b) and jasmine tea (Liang et al., 2007). Although oolong tea is getting more and more popular in the world, especially in China and Japan, there is much less investigation on the quality of dierent oolong tea in comparison with the vigorous studies on the quality of green and black teas. Oolong tea is a semi-fermented tea as partially chlorophylls (chl), catechins and other polyphenols (PPs) are preserved after processing owing to inactivation of enzyme by dry heating. The perceived quality of oolong teas is assessed according to their appearance of leaf tea and the colour, taste and aroma of the brew and features of infused young shoots. Only a few studies have been performed on oolong teas with emphasis on taste properties (Huang et al., 2003; Chen et al., 2010), colour dierence (Liang et al., 2005a) and aroma properties (Wang et al., 2008) while comprehensive study on chemical compositions associated with colour, taste, aroma and other essential features of this type of tea is

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relatively limited. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship of chemical components with the perceived quality index of oolong tea assessed by sensory evaluation.
Materials and methods

Chlorophylls (chl) and carotenoids

Materials

Grounded tea sample of 0.5 g was extracted with 100 mL 80% acetone in water (v v) until colourless by grinding with sand and a small amount of CaCO3 in a mortar using a pestle (Wang & Ruan, 2009). The contents of chl and carotenoids were calculated with following equations (13): chlamg g1 12:7D663 2:69D645 =1SW 1 chlbmg g1 22:9D645 4:68D663 =1SW 2 Carotenoids (mg g1 4:7D440 1:38D663 5:48D645 =1SW 3 where S (%) is the moisture content and W is the weight of sample. D663, D645 and D440 are the corresponding (absorbance) readings from the spectrophotometer of the above solutions. Tea moisture was measured using a vacuum oven based on an international standard method (ISO 1573, 1980); chl a is chlorophyll a and chl b is chlorophyll b.
Polyphenols (PPs), catechins, free amino acids, caffeine and water extract

A total of thirty-one oolong tea samples were collected from tea factories and tea companies (Fujian, Guangdong & Taiwan, from April to June 2008) in China (Table S1). All analyses including sensory evaluation were conducted within 3 months after sample collection. All analyses including sensory evaluation were conducted within 24 h of preparing tea infusion. Catechins and volatile compound standards for HPLC and gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC MS), chemicals (analytical reagent or above) were purchased from Changsha Chemical Company (Changsha, China), Sigma Co. (St Louis, MO, USA) or (Fluka AG, Chemische Fabrik, Switzerland).
Sensory evaluation

Perceived quality score was blindly assessed according to a standardised procedure by a tea-tasting panel consisted of six professional panelists (The panelists were divided into two groups with each consisted of three panelists) (Liang et al., 2007; Wang & Ruan, 2009). The grading was performed to each of ve attributes, the appearance (including colour, shape, regularity and uniformity of leaf tea), infusion colour, taste and aroma of the infusion and features of infused leaves (postinfusion, based mainly on bud and leaves proportions). The assessment of appearance was performed on leaf tea samples and other features after infusion process. Procedure of sensory evaluation is given as follows (Hui et al., 2004; Wang & Ruan, 2009). The total score of a sample was calculated from summing of each feature by weighting factors, of which 20% was awarded to the appearance of dry tea, 30% for the tea aroma, 10% for the infusion colour, 30% for the taste and 10% for the infused leaves (Gong, 2001).
CIELAB colour scale parameters DL, Da and Db of infusion

Leaf tea sample of 3 g was infused similarly as those for sensory evaluation described above. After tea infusion was ltered using lter paper and cooled to room temperature, the infusion was immediately measured with colourimeter SMY-2000 (Shenmingyang Science Co., Ltd, Beijing, China) against distilled water for parameters DL, Da and Db based on the CIELAB colour scale.

Concentrations of PPs and total free amino acid (AA) were determined with routine methods after extracted with deionised water in a boiling bath for 45 min with occasional hand shaking (Liang et al., 2003; Wang & Ruan, 2009). The extract was immediately ltered and cooled to room temperature and measured for the concentrations of PPs as previously described (Erdemoglu et al., 2000). The absorbance was measured at 760 nm on UV Vis spectrophotometer (Shimadzu UV 2550, Kyoto, Japan) and the results were expressed as gallic acid equivalents. Contents of total AA in the tea infusions were determined by a spectraphotometric method except that theanine was used as amino acid standard to make calibration graph (Liang et al., 2007). Water extract was determined by an international standard method (ISO 9768, 1994). Briey a volume of 50 mL tea extract prepared as described above was evaporated in dish on boiling water bath to rough dry and further dried in an oven at 103 C to complete dryness and then weighted after cooling down to room temperature in a silicagel desiccator. The composition of free AAs was measured by an L-8800 amino acid analyser (Hitachi High-Technologies,

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Tokyo, Japan). The composition of caeine and catechins in the extract was determined with a HPLC system (LC-2010AHT; Shimadzu Corp.) equipped with a Shim-pack VP-ODS column (5 lm, 4.6mm 150 mm, 35 C) at 278 nm as previously described with some modications (Wang et al., 2004). Solvents A (water) and B (N,N-dimethylformamide:methanol:acetic acid, 20:1:0.5, v v) were run in linear gradients with B increasing from 14% to 23% within 13 min, from 23% to 36% within next 12 min and maintained for 3 min thereafter at a rate of 1.0 mL min)1. Concentrations of caeine and catechins were quantied by their peak areas against those of standards prepared from authentic compounds.
Volatile compounds

Results and discussion

Perceived quality of oolong tea

The preparation of oil extract and analysis of aromatic compounds were essentially the same as previously described (Wang & You, 1996). Briey, 50 g of ground tea sample was extracted with 1000 mL hot water in a Liens-Nickerson simultaneous steam distillation continuous extraction (SDE) with ether as the solvent. Before SDE extraction 1.0 mL ethyl caproate (5 lL ethyl caproate of in 100 mL of ether) was added to the tea as an internal standard. The ethyl ether phase was then dehydrated with 5 g of anhydrous sodium sulphate overnight. The dehydrated ethyl ether phase was concentrated to 400 lL under a puried nitrogen stream. The volatile compounds in the extract were analysed by GCMS-QP2010 (Shimadzu). The column was RTX-5ms fused silica capillary column (30 m 0.25 mm 0.25 lm). The temperature was programmed from 50 C (held for 4 min) to 150 C (held for 1 min) at 2 C min)1, then programmed from 150 to 180 C (held for 5 min) at 5 C min)1, and then programmed from 180 to 280 C (held for 30 min) at 10 C min)1. MS ion source temperature was 210 C, and electron energy was 70 eV. Peak identication was achieved by interpretation of mass spectra and by coincidence of retention times with authentic standards. Concentrations of aromatic compounds were expressed as ratios of peak area to that of internal standard (ethyl caproate).
Data analysis and statistics

Oolong tea possesses the characteristics of both the unfermented green tea and fully fermented black tea. In its manufacture are applied the long withering processing of black tea manufacture, with shaking slightly to oxidise the PPs, followed by the heatblanching procedures of green tea manufacture to stabilise the oxidised and nonoxidised components in tea leaf. Unique processing makes oolong teas possess the characteristic of green tea with red circumference. This is because the fresh leaves are rotated after the withering process. The rotating process causes the friction between the leaves, disrupts the cellular tissue at the edge of leaves and causes a limited degree fermentation. Typical brew liquor of oolong tea is golden brew liquor with green leaf with fragrant owery aroma and a sweet, smooth and soothing taste (Hui et al., 2004). Total scores combining above ve attributes (appearance, aroma, infusion colour, taste and infused leaves) given by the tea-tasting panel ranged from 81.3 to 91.1 and averaged 87.6 (Table S1). Spearmans linear correlation analysis showed that total quality scores (TQS) correlated strongly with those of appearance, aroma, infusion colour, taste and infused leaves (r = 0.840, 0.409, 0.706, 0.717 and 0.763, respectively) (Table 1). The linear correlation between the quality attributes was statistically signicant except for that between the aroma and the appearance, infusion colour, taste and infused leaves (Table 1).
Chemical compositions and infusion colour and their correlation with perceived colour and taste quality

Concentrations of total chl, chl a and chl b ranged from 1.00 to 5.15, 0.77 to 3.59 and 0.22 to 1.56 mg g)1, respectively, with coecients of variation (CV) of 40.4254.61% (Table S2). Concentrations of carotenoids ranged from 0.33 to 1.04 mg g)1 in oolong tea
Table 1 Correlation coefcients of averaged sensory evaluation score of oolong teas on attributes of appearance of dry leaf tea, infused leaves (post-infusion), colour, taste and aroma of infusion (tea sample number = 31) Infusion colour Infused leaf

All above analyses except sensory evaluation were duplicated for each sample and means were presented. Analyses of Spearmans linear correlation, principal component (PCA) and linear regression based on means of duplicate analysis were carried out by SPSS software package (spss 13.0 for windows, SPSS China Inc., Shanghai, China, 2004). Cluster analysis was carried out by DPS v2.00 software package (Rene Information Tech. Co., Ltd, Hangzhou, China).

Appearance Aroma Infusion colour Taste Infused leaf TQS 0.233 0.498** 0.747** 0.816** 0.840**

Aroma

Taste

)0.114 0.019 0.176 0.409*

0.549** 0.464** 0.706**

0.787** 0.717**

0.763**

TQS, total quality score. Signicance: *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.

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samples (Table S2), being close to previously reported data, for example 0.301.48 mg g)1 in Longjing teas (Wang & Ruan, 2009), 0.360.73 mg g)1 in Indian black teas and around 1 mg g)1 in some others (Ravichandran, 2002). Mean values of CIELAB parameters DL, Da, Db and DE were )5.59, )3.32, 14.45 and 16.13 for the infusion (Table S2). Tea catechins were important constituents of oolong tea infusion and total catechins ranged from 34.45 to 127.99 mg g)1, with an average of 86.84 mg g)1 (Table S3). Five catechins and catechin gallates, i.e. (+)-catechin (C), ())-epicatechin (EC), ())-epicatechin gallate (ECG), ())-epigallocatechin (EGC), and ())-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) have been detected as the major phenolic compounds present in oolong teas. EGCG was the predominant species of catechins followed by EGC and ECG (Table S3). Content of water extract ranged from 263.00 to 398.50 mg g)1 and that of caeine ranged from 16.85 to 37.96 mg g)1 (Table S2). Content of PP ranged from 80.24 to 168.53 mg g)1 and that of AAs ranged from 1.77 to 23.92 mg g)1 (Table S3). Theanine (Thea) was the predominant free AA and ranged from 0.28 to 17.93 mg g)1 (Table S3). Other abundant free AAs included glutamic acid (Glu), proline (Pro), aspartic acid (Asp), serine (Ser), arginine (Arg) and histidine (His). The coecients of variation of theanine, glutamic acid, arginine and total free AAs were greater than 50% whereas those of water extract, PPs, total catechins and caeine were below 50% (Tables S2 and S3). The scores for appearance and infused leaf correlated (P < 0.05) strongly with concentrations of chl a, chl b and chl and the total quality score positively correlated (P < 0.01) with concentrations of chl a, chl b and chl (Table 2). The species of carotenoids were not further analysed and the total concentration measured represented the remaining amount after degradation during processing. Four carotenoids, i.e. b-carotene, c-carotene, xanthophyll and antheraxanthin have been detected in oolong teas (Liu et al., 1990). During processing, carotenoids degrade to form a number of volatile compounds, highlighting their contribution to aromatic quality of tea (Ravichandran, 2002). Some violaxanthin is also converted to auroxanthin leading to decreases in the number of carotenoids species (Suzuki & Shioi, 2003). Nevertheless, the exact contribution of carotenoids to the quality of taste and colour of oolong tea has not been previously reported yet. The present data showed that carotenoids concentrations did not correlate with any quality scores (Table 2), possibly due to low solubility in hot water (Suzuki & Shioi, 2003). DL was positively correlated with infusion colour, infused leaf and total quality score (r = 0.4290.440, P < 0.05; Table 2) and Da was signicantly negatively correlated with appearance, liquor colour and total quality score (r = )0.425, P < 0.05, r = )0.499,

r = )0.511, respectively, P < 0.01; Table 2). There were negative correlation of infused leaf and total quality score to Db and DE. This nding was consistent with the conclusion reached in the experiments (Liang et al., 2005a). The perceived taste score positively and weakly, but signicantly correlated with the concentration of total free AA (r = 0.514, P < 0.01) and theanine (r = 0.500, P < 0.01) while negatively with the ratio of PPs to total free AA (PP AA) (r = )0.492, P < 0.01; Table 2). The total free AA and theanine also correlated signicantly with the scores for TQS (r = 0.694, 0.684, respectively, P < 0.01) while the ratio of PPs to total free AA (PP AA) correlated negatively with the scores for TQS (r = )0.653, P < 0.01; Table 2). The present nding conrmed the important contribution of free AAs in particular theanine to taste quality (Le Gall et al., 2004). The ratio of PP AA is considered as an index reecting the balance of free AAs and polyphenols, two key components contributing to tastes of mellowness and astringency of green tea, respectively. Polyphenols are important elicitors of the taste of bitterness and astringency in tea (Scharbert et al., 2004; Scharbert & Hofmann, 2005) and a variety of other foods including nuts, fruits, wine and chocolate (Lesschaeve & Noble, 2005). The nding from this research conrmed the negative eect on sensory perception. There were no signicantly correlations between perceived taste scores with concentrations of water extract and caeine.
Volatile compounds and their correlation with perceived aroma quality

The relative concentrations of major volatile compounds against internal standard are presented (Table S4). Nerolidol, indole, benzenacetaldehyde, linalool, linalool oxide I, n-hexanal, benzyl nitrile, geraniol and 1-penten3-ol were prevailing volatile compounds detected in most of oolong tea samples. These compounds together with methyl salicylate, methyl jasmonate, phenylethyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, cis-jasmone and b-ionone are possibly principal contributor to fragrant owery aroma of made oolong teas. Their abundant concentrations in oolong teas can be formed during tea manufacture, in which hydrolysis of their glycosides and primeverosides by b-glucosidase primeverosidase occurs intensively (Wang et al., 2001). Some thermal generated compounds, e.g. 3,7-dimethyl-1,5,7-octatrien-3-ol was measured in most of oolong tea samples and 2,5-dimethyl pyrazine and 5-methyl-2-furancarboxaldehyde was detected in red oolong tea samples labelled 2731. These later compounds exhibiting toasted avour are known as heat products from AAs and sugars (Kato & Shibamoto, 2001). Isoeugenol was detected in Guangdong oolong tea samples labelled 19 and part of Taiwan oolong tea.

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Table 2 Correlation coefcients of averaged sensory scores assessed by two independent tea-tasting panels with chemical components and CIELAB parameters of infusion colour in oolong teas (tea sample number = 31)

Appearance Chl a Chl b Chl Carotenoids DL Da Db DE Water extract Caffeine PPs Total catechins EGC C EC EGCG GCG ECG Serine Glutamic acid Alanine Valine Tyrosine Phenylalanine Lysine Arginine Theanine Total AA PP AA 0.413* 0.430* 0.433* 0.056 0.256 )0.425* )0.230 )0.231 0.117 )0.137 )0.238 0.193 0.220 0.047 0.089 0.137 0.235 0.007 0.544** 0.558** 0.485** 0.596** 0.541** 0.524** 0.622** 0.105 0.444* 0.498** )0.469**

Aroma 0.519** 0.538** 0.536** 0.323 0.294 )0.299 )0.315 )0.306 0.161 )0.074 )0.053 0.269 )0.159 0.063 0.041 0.246 0.420* 0.389* )0.170 0.065 0.069 0.058 )0.125 )0.149 0.038 )0.415* )0.059 )0.107 0.108

Infusion colour 0.324 0.288 0.313 )0.026 0.440* )0.499** )0.347 )0.353 0.032 )0.205 )0.181 0.405* 0.648** 0.384* 0.203 0.133 0.354 )0.309 0.704** 0.794** 0.463** 0.751** 0.845** 0.694** 0.788** 0.595** 0.965** 0.965** )0.893**

Taste 0.185 0.181 0.199 )0.158 0.236 )0.306 )0.240 )0.240 0.104 )0.155 )0.223 0.280 0.319 0.105 0.206 0.115 0.211 )0.011 0.506** 0.485** 0.360* 0.587** 0.455* 0.360* 0.516** 0.122 0.500** 0.514** )0.492**

Infused leaf 0.355* 0.414* 0.389* )0.026 0.429* )0.334 )0.423* )0.428* 0.147 )0.231 )0.237 0.211 0.377* 0.160 0.279 0.031 0.201 0.011 0.529** 0.585** 0.393* 0.523** 0.420* 0.396* 0.536** 0.092 0.398* 0.458** )0.456**

TQS 0.517** 0.533** 0.527** 0.125 0.432* )0.511** )0.382* )0.384* 0.173 )0.225 )0.224 0.362* 0.367* 0.209 0.114 0.194 0.397* )0.101 0.583** 0.696** 0.487* 0.682** 0.643** 0.534** 0.728** 0.260 0.684** 0.694** )0.653**

Signicance: *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01.

Perceived aroma score positively correlated with concentration of benzyl alcohol, benzeneacetaldehyde, linalool, phenylethyl alcohol, linalool oxide, indole, cis-jasmone, nerolidol, methyl jasmonate, sum of VFC group II and value of avour index (P < 0.01; Table 3). TQS positively correlated with concentration of benzyl alcohol, benzeneacetaldehyde, geraniol, indole and toluene but negatively correlated with the concentration of (E,E)-2,4-heptadienal (P < 0.05; Table 3). This suggested that perceived aroma quality is very seldom a function of abundance, but more of ratios between the volatile compounds. It is well established that the avour index value is directly correlated to the avour of black tea (Owuor et al., 1988). The value of avour index depends on the ratio between the sum of VFC Group II and I compounds. VFC Group I compounds are mostly derived from lipid degradation during manufacture (Ravichandran & Parthiban, 2000) and give rise to inferior greenish avour, while VFC Group II compounds impart sweet owery aroma to black tea (Ravichandran & Parthiban, 2002). The volatile composition and their quantities in oolong teas varied quite widely, despite the fact that

all tea samples generally involve tea leaf plucking, solar withering, indoor withering, parching bruising, rolling and ring drying. This might be resulted from dierent varieties, cultivation practices and even small dierence in processing conditions such as lasting time of fresh leaf spreading before processing. The nding suggests that proles of aroma compounds dier largely among dierent tea types or teas of same categories of dierent origins (Wang et al., 2001). More experiments are needed to evaluate active odour compounds that contribute importantly to aroma properties for oolong teas.
Regressive relationship of chemical composition, infusion colour and volatile compounds to total quality

Total quality score (TQS) is considered as a comprehensive parameter reecting the tea quality as it positively correlated with most of the individual quality attributes (Table 1). It is therefore interesting to develop mathematic models to estimate tea quality, which use the TQS as dependent variable and the chemical, infusion colour indicators and volatile compounds as independent variables. Multivariate analysis on chemical components provides useful methodology to distinguish the origin,

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Table 3 Correlation coefcients of averaged sensory scores assessed by two independent tea-tasting panels with volatile compounds in oolong teas (n = 31) Corrrelation factor 1-penten-3-ol Pentanal Toluene n-Hexanal (E)-2-Hexenal Heptanal Benzaldehyde 6-Methyl-5-Hepten-2-one (E,E)-2,4-Heptadienal Benzyl alcohol Benzeneacetaldehyde Linalool oxide Linalool Phenylethyl alcohol Benzyl nitrile Linalool oxide Methyl salicylate Geraniol Indole cis-Jasmone b-Ionone Nerolidol Methyl jasmonate Sum of VFC group Sum of VFC group Flavour index Signicance: *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01. Aroma )0.180 0.300 0.369* 0.006 0.077 0.155 0.072 0.073 )0.238 0.555** 0.585** 0.337 0.467** 0.578** 0.449* 0.555** 0.169 0.231 0.669** 0.519** )0.057 0.574** 0.543** )0.037 0.691** 0.850** TQS )0.131 0.246 0.377* 0.299 )0.041 0.329 )0.091 )0.095 )0.446* 0.475** 0.388* )0.085 0.186 0.291 0.145 0.155 )0.309 0.370* 0.366* 0.264 0.295 0.002 0.310 0.117 0.291 0.217

Table 4 Initial eigenvalues and variance distribution by PCA Component (Tested indicator) 1 (glutamic acid) 2 (total catechins) 3 (benzeneacetaldehyde) 4 (1-penten-3-ol) 5 (EC) 6 (n-hexnanal) 7 (alanine) 8 (toluene) 9 (water extract) 10 (geraniol) Total 14.21 10.20 7.37 3.78 2.91 1.92 1.76 1.31 1.15 1.07 % of Variance 27.86 20.00 14.46 7.41 5.71 3.76 3.44 2.56 2.25 2.09 Cumulative % 27.86 47.87 62.33 69.74 75.45 79.20 82.64 85.20 87.45 89.54

quality and category of teas (Liang et al., 2003, 2005b, 2007; Le Gall et al., 2004). To select the most useful indicators, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to screen the data set. The PCA with the fty-one analysed chemical parameters showed that the cumulative variance of the rst ten principal components accounted for 89.54% of the total variance of the data set (Table 4). According to absolute value, the highest component score coecients for the rst three principal components were from glutamic acid ()0.837), total catechins (0.808) and benzeneacetaldehyde (0.883), respectively. The highest component score coecients for the rest seven principal components were from 1-penten-3-ol (0.786), EC ()0.567), n-hexanal (0.582), alanine (0.429), toluene ()0.720), water extract (0.407) and geraniol ()0.487), respectively. The rst extracted principal component with glutamic acid accounted for 27.86% of the total variance of the data set, making the largest contribution to oolong tea quality among the components analysed. The second extracted principal component with total catechins accounted for 20.00% of the total variance and also played an important role in oolong tea quality. The third principal component with benzenacetaldehyde accounted for 14.46% of the total

1 4 8 9 6 2 5 3 22 7 20 23 10 12 16 11 13 17 25 26 14 15 18 24 27 28 30 29 31 19 21 0.00 0.98 1.96 2.94 3.93 4.91

Figure 1 Dendrograms of cluster analysis on thirty-one oolong tea samples using the rst three principal components (62.33% variance).

variance suggesting benzenacetaldehyde was a key volatile compound contributing to oolong tea quality. Regression of the TQS upon the ten principal components produces the following signicant relationship: TQS = 79.244 + 2.287 glutamic acid + 0.018 total catechins + 0. 068 benzeneacetaldehyde + 0.154 1-penten-3-ol0.239 EC + 0.086 n-hexanal + 0.527 alanine 0.062 toluene + 0.011 water extract + 0.112 geraniol (R2 = 0.785, P < 0.05, SE = 1.17). This

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model may be interesting for potentially estimating the quality and designing quality assessment equipment of oolong tea. For example, colourimeter, NMR spectroscopy, total luminescence spectroscopy, capillary electrophoresis, electronic tongue and lipid membrane taste sensor have been applied to discriminate tea quality (Horie & Kohata, 1998; Liang et al., 2003, 2005a, b, 2007; Le Gall et al., 2004; Seetohul et al., 2006; Yu & Wang, 2007; Wang & Ruan, 2009). Cluster analysis was further performed on the thirtyone oolong tea samples based on the rst three principal components (Fig. 1). Five red oolong teas labelled 2731 from Fujian were assorted to one group and seven oolong teas labelled 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 from Guangdong were assorted to one group. Nine oolong teas labelled 1018 from Taiwan were also assorted to one group. Adoption of more principal components did not give clearer classication of oolong teas. The result showed that oolong green teas can be partially classied by cluster analysis using PCA components, but the interpretation of the results remains open to debate.
References
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Composition and perceived quality of Oolong tea K. Wang et al.

Supporting Information

Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article: Table S1. Averaged sensory quality score of the oolong tea samples blindly assessed by two independent tea-tasting panels each consisted of three panelists (Mean S.D.a). Table S2. Concentrations (mg g)1) of pigments, water extract, caeine and CIELAB colour scale parameters of oolong tea samples.

Table S3. Concentrations (mg g)1) of catechins and free amino acids in oolong tea samples. Table S4. Concentrations of selected major volatile compounds of oolong teasa. Please note: Wiley-Blackwell are not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting materials supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing material) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2010

2010 The Authors. Journal compilation 2010 Institute of Food Science and Technology