Study of aroma formation and transformation during the manufacturing process of Biluochun green tea in Yunnan Province by HS‐SPME and GC‐MS

Abstract BACKGROUND Biluochun is a typical non‐fermented tea and is also famous for its unique aroma in China. Few studies have been performed to evaluate the effect of the manufacturing process on the formation and content of its aroma. RESULTS The volatile components were extracted at different manufacturing process steps of Biluochun green tea using fully automated headspace solid‐phase microextraction ( HS‐SPME ) and further characterised by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry ( GC‐MS ). Among 67 volatile components collected, the fractions of linalool oxides, β ‐ionone, phenylacetaldehyde, aldehydes, ketones, and nitrogen compounds were increased while alcohols and hydrocarbons declined during the manufacturing process. The aroma compounds decreased the most during the drying steps. CONCLUSION We identified a number of significantly changed components that can be used as markers and quality control during the producing process of Biluochun. The drying step played a major role in the aroma formation of green tea products and should be the most important step for quality control. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry